Mysterious Bodies: Investigating the Corporeal in Television Drama Edited by Rayna Denison and Mark Jancovich Horror has often been seen as incompatible with television given the supposed conflict between the dangerous, fantastic and trangressive nature of the genre and the safe, routine and domestic features of television programming. However, recently horror has become a major feature of television programming and there has been an expansion of programs dealing with graphic representations of the body. Increasingly American program makers, for example, have pushed the limits of acceptability in terms of violent and sexual material. As a result, the collection will look at a range of different types of television material in which the body becomes the focus of graphic visual scrutiny as an object of investigation and administration. The collection will therefore look at a range of program from horror and science fiction through medical dramas and those featuring forensic detection, to program dealing with sex and/or the sex industry. However, these concerns should not be simply seen as contemporary developments and indeed horror programming has been a feature of television since the early days, with key shows such as The Quatermas Experiment, The Outer Limits, Doomwatch, Dr Who, etc. As a result, the collection will seek to explore the reasons for contemporary developments while also investigating the historical processes that prefigure it, and its various institutional and cultural contexts. Topics covered might include: * An analysis of the institutional conditions which relate to these changing representations of the body, particularly the impact of cable and satellite networks and regimes of censorship. * Generic studies of the body on television, such as the examination of the body in horror, science fiction, medical and crime dramas, etc. * Identity and the body. Obviously the mysterious bodies raise issues about sex, gender, sexual orientation and race both in relation to the subject and object of investigation, but they may also provoke questions about our relationship to and understanding of bodies. * The problematic body of the hero. In many dramas, the mysterious body is not simply other but often that of the main protagonist. Many heroes are engaged in quest to make sense of their bodies and the destiny that it determines for them and this can be seen in a range of shows, perhaps most noticeably in Buffy and Smallville but also in dramas such as Nip/Tuck. * Consuming the televisual body: fans, critics and other audiences. While institutional and textual analysis has much to tell us about these bodies, their representation also provokes powerful responses. While many are the focus of intensive fan cultures, which merit detailed investigation, they have also been the object of intense criticism and condemnation. What are the politics of such objections. Shows discussed might include: Quatermas; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Outer Limits; Twilight Zone; Dr Who; Star Trek; Mission: Impossible; Quincy; Dr Kildare; St Elsewhere; Twin Peaks; The X-Files; CSI; Without a Trace; Coldcase; Silent Witness; Waking the Dead; ER; Law and Order; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Sex and the City; Smallville; Nip/Tuck; Star Gate; Six Feet Under; Tru Calling Proposals or finished articles by 1 December 2004 Acceptance by 1 February 2005 Finished articles by 1 July 2005 Requests for revisions by 1 September 2005 Revised articles due by 1 December 2005 Submission of final manuscript to publisher 1 April 2006 Please send your proposal or article to BOTH Editors Rayna Denison Media and Film Studies School of Humanities University of Sussex Falmer Campus Brighton BN1 9RH Tel: 01273 876587 Email: [log in to unmask] And Mark Jancovich 2.45 Arts Building Film and Television Studies University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom. Tel: 01603 592787 Email: [log in to unmask] ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]