CFP: Postsocialist Sexualities

[Narcisz Fejes]

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 at gmail.com and Andrea P. Balogh (University
of Szeged) andrea.pbalogh at gmail.com by 27 April 2009.

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