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March 03, 2009
CFP Essays: Postsocialist Sexualities
Deadline: April 27, 2009
CFP: Dilemmas of Visibility: Post-Socialist Sexualities (essay collection)
The democratic changes in post-socialist Europe have provided various
opportunities for making sexual minorities visible; yet, their general
recognition is still fraught with contradictions. Although the fall of
communism marked the end of state censorship, subtle forms of political and social control have emerged to marginalize or even silence public expressions of non-heterosexual identities and self-definitions. While some coverage of gay, lesbian and transsexual lifestyles is present in the mainstream media, the often sensational representations reinforce rather than counter a prevailing heterosexist prejudice. In fact, the post-socialist sexual landscape is characterized by the scarcity of politically sound public discussions of non-heteronormative sexual and gender identities and continuing hostile public reactions against sexual minorities.
Our aim in this essay collection is twofold. On the one hand, we intend to reflect on the ways in which sexual minorities are made visible in post-socialist Europe. What concern us here are the contradictions embedded in the visibility of sexual differences and 'new' forms of femininities and masculinities. What sexualities and genders have garnered attention and what identities are suppressed in post-socialist mainstream cultures? What forms of sexuality and gender invite aggression, phobia, and public scapegoating? On the other hand, the mainstream reactions provoke us to examine what forms of resistance, opposition, and activism have come into being to challenge and repoliticize prevailing heterosexist notions of gender and sexuality. Thus, we are interested in what kinds of visibility politics have been shaping and prove effective to counter sensationalized or hostile public reactions against sexual minorities in post-socialist Europe. In order to map out the various forces that define the post-socialist sexual landscape, we invite proposals that consider the visibility of post-socialist
sexualities in relation to both mainstream sexual politics and strategies of resistance and opposition.
Our overall hope is that the essay collection will provide fruitful ground for a comprehensive theorizing of post-socialist sexual politics and their specific cultural parameters. We are interested in expanding on existing feminist and queer theoretical interventions in visibility politics through negotiating Western feminist and queer agendas and those of post-socialist realities. To this end, we welcome papers that use comparative as well as interdisciplinary methodologies. Papers may cover (but are not limited to) various cultural and epistemological fields including literature, theatre
and performance arts, film, photography, media (including new media),
popular culture, publication and publicity, education, and non-governmental organizations within and across national borders.
Please email proposals (500 word abstracts) to Nárcisz Fejes (Case Western Reserve University) narcisz.fejes@gmail.com and Andrea P. Balogh (University of Szeged) andrea.pbalogh@gmail.com by 27 April 2009.
Posted by agripley at March 3, 2009 09:47 AM