26.5332, FYI: Call for Papers: Humosexually Speaking

Mon Nov 30 18:12:19 UTC 2015

LINGUIST List: Vol-26-5332. Mon Nov 30 2015. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 26.5332, FYI: Call for Papers: Humosexually Speaking

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Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2015 13:12:00
From: Giuseppe Balirano [gbalirano at unior.it]
Subject: Call for Papers: Humosexually Speaking

HUMOSEXUALLY SPEAKING 
Laughter and the Intersections of Gender
Giuseppe Balirano and Delia Chiaro (Eds.)

Humour can be a very dangerous activity, especially if laughter works at downplaying minority groups. People will generally laugh at anything despite the fact that somebody – or some specific groups – may be insulted by being the butt of a joke. The biased image which tends to pass through humour construes LGBTI people within negative representations, encompassing illness and death, but also depicting them as sex maniacs or perverts. Through humour, these features are often taken for granted by the whole of society, constituting the origin of prejudices which are commonly based upon the rejection of the targeted group. The repetition of the very same biased representation can lead to the formation of accepted discourses in various societies bringing jaundiced ideological representations to the status of semiosis, therefore no longer visible as negative or exclusionary ideologies. 

Focusing on the social function of humour in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities in postcolonial settings, we wish to posit that humour also has the power to constantly strengthen and re-interpret the social, cultural and legal exclusion of some fully-fledged members of society.

Homosexuality in humorous discourses is a very hot topic. However, there has been very little systematic investigation into the relationship between humour and LGBTI people, and in particular, there is no consistent research about the issue in postcolonial contexts. 

We invite original contributions on theoretical reflections, as well as analytical exploration into the language of jokes, stand-up comedians, internet blogs, films, TV series and other written and/or audiovisual materials connected with the themes identified and produced in English speaking countries. Intercultural and interdisciplinary approaches are most welcome.

For submissions and queries please write to us at degenere.journal at gmail.com
Deadline for abstract proposals (300 words and short bio): 30 January 2016.
Articles will be due on 31 March 2016.
For submission guidelines and further info please check our submissions page.

Suggested Reading List
Balirano, Giuseppe. 2007. The Perception of Diasporic Humour: Indian English on TV. Catania: AG Edizioni. 
Chiaro, Delia. 2008. “Translation and Verbally Expressed Humour.” In A Primer in Humor Studies, 569-608. Berlin, Mouton De Gruyter.
Chiaro, Delia. 1992. The Language of Jokes. Analyzing Verbal Play. London: Routledge.
Chiaro, Delia and Raffaella Baccolini, eds. 2014. Gender and Humor: Interdisciplinary and International Perspectives. New York: Routledge.
Cohen, Jaffe, Danny McWilliams, and Bob Smith. 1995. Growing up gay: From left out to coming out. New York: Hyperion.
Davies, C. E. 2006. “Gendered sense of humor as expressed through aesthetic typifications.” Journal of Pragmatics 38: 96-113.
Gaudio, R. P. 1996. “Funny Muslims: Humor, Faith, and Gender Liminality in Hausa”. In Gender and Belief Systems: Proceedings of the Fourth Berkeley Women and Language Conference, edited by Natasha Warner et al. Berkeley: Berkeley Women and Language Group. 
Hay, Jay. 2000. “Functions of Humor in the Conversations of Men and Women.” Journal of Pragmatics 32: 709-742.
Painter, Dorothy S. 1980. “Lesbian Humor as a Normalization Device”. In Communication, Language and Sex, edited by Cynthia L. Berryman and Virginia A. Eman, 132-148. Massachusetts: Newbury House Publishers, Inc. 
Reichl Susanne, and Mark Stein, eds. 2005. Cheeky Fictions: Laughter and the Postcolonial. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi.
Rice, Laura. 2007. Of Irony and Empire: Islam, the West, and the Transcultural Invention of Africa. Albany: State University of New York.
Solomon, William. 2003. “Secret Integrations: Black Humor and the Critique of Whiteness.” Modern Fiction Studies 49.3: 469-495.
Stanley, Julia, and Susan Robbins. 1977. “Lesbian Humor.” Women: A Journal of Liberation 5: 26-29.

Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis
                     General Linguistics

Subject Language(s): English (eng)

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