THE VELVET LIGHT TRAP
A CRITICAL JOURNAL OF FILM AND TELEVISION STUDIES

Call for Papers: Pornography

Pornography has always been a ubiquitous, yet peripheral, part of the 
motion picture industry. Various events throughout the latter half of the 
20th century have given pornographic films a more visible presence in the 
public sphere. But as pornography becomes increasingly widespread and 
accessible, media scholars have largely resisted it as an object of 
inquiry. Despite annual revenues currently surpassing those of Hollywood 
and much of the sports industry, pornography still remains "obscene" in the 
sense that film theorist Linda Williams recently used the term -- 
"off-stage" or "out of public view." Over the last fifteen years, scholars 
have inched pornography closer and closer to center stage. Issue #59 of The 
Velvet Light Trap will continue in that tradition. The editors seek essays 
that build on the momentum of recent scholarly work and address pornography 
in its varied forms.


Possible topics for this issue include but are not limited to:
    * Connotations of the words "pornography" or "porn"
    * Genres
    * Sexually Explicit Art Cinema -- (e.g. Patrice Chereau, Catherine 
Breillat, Andrew Repasky McElhinney, Baise-Moi, Porn Theatre)
    * Pornography from non-Western countries
    * Teaching pornography
    * Amateur pornography
    * Production companies
    * The avant-garde as pornography / pornography as avant-garde
    * Questions of "the real" and evidence
    * Feminist interventions
    * Porn stars as celebrities / celebrities as porn stars
    * Documentaries about pornography - (e.g. Shooting Porn, Sex: The 
Annabel Chong Story, Inside Deep Throat, Porn Star: The Legend of Ron 
Jeremy, Kamikaze Hearts, Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes)
    * Films about pornography - (e.g. The Fluffer, Demonlover, Orgazmo, 
Wonderland, Boogie Nights, 8MM, Inserts)
    * Softcore vs. hardcore
    * Changing definitions of pornography
    * Exhibition/distribution
    * Delivery systems
    * Queering pornography
    * Internet pornography
    * Canon formation
    * Narrative strategies
    * Technology
    * Theories of the visible and audible
    * Intersections with race and class
    * Censorship
    * Rating systems
    * Porn Auteurs
    * Porn Classics
    * Careers in pornography

To be considered for publication, papers should be between 4,500 and 7,500 
words, double-spaced, in MLA style, with the author's name and contact 
information included only on the cover page. Queries
regarding potential submissions also are welcome. Authors are responsible 
for acquiring related visual images and the associated copyrights. For more 
information or to submit a query, please
contact Leslie Delassus ([log in to unmask]). All submissions are 
due January 15, 2006.

The Velvet Light Trap is an academic, refereed journal of film and 
television studies published semi-annually by University of Texas Press. 
Issues are coordinated alternately by graduate students at
the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 
After a prescreening, articles are anonymously refereed by specialist 
readers of the journal's Editorial Advisory Board, which includes such 
notable scholars as Charles Acland, David William Foster, Sean Griffin, 
Bambi Haggins, Heather Hendershot, Charlie Keil, Michele Malach, Dan 
Marcus, Nina Martin, Tara McPherson, Walter Metz, Jason Mittell, James 
Morrison, Steve Neale, Karla Oeler, Lisa Parks, and Malcolm Turvey.

Please address submissions to:
The Velvet Light Trap
c/o The Department of Radio-Television-Film
University of Texas at Austin
CMA 6.118, Mail Code A0800
Austin, TX 78712


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