POPULAR CULTURE – GENDER – AGENCY

In the light of recent heated debates around questions of
gender in popular culture — for instance,around the feminist implications of Charlotte Roche’s novels, the political relevance
of Lady Gaga’s pop music, or Emma Watson’s speech in front of the UN
— it is fair to say that
the pop - cultural field is both
the object of and the
stage for several discourses on
the production, performance and representation of gender. The diversity of discourses
corresponds to the diversity of media and actors: the aforementioned debates
can be found at all levels of
the public sphere, in blogs, pop songs,
YouTube videos,and film as well as in
newspapers and academic writing. Gender, it seems, has become
the new leading paradigm for the ethical
evaluation of pop - cultural artefacts.
We invite scholars of all disciplines to meet in Rostock for
an interdisciplinary exchange
on popular culture and gender.
We welcome national and international papers, which address one of the following issues:
(New) presentations of gender
How diverse is the
gender spectrum represented
in literature, pop music, TV and film?
What kind of body representations can be found?
Gender-specific conditions of (pop)
cultural production
Do gender or sexuality determine
artists’ access to pop - cultural production?
Can gender - specific
differences be observed, for instance in the booking of musicians or the awarding of film prizes?
Historical gender discourses and forms
of media
In view of the phenomena
described, is it possible to speak of a fourth wave of feminism?
How do feminist actors in the pop -
cultural field position themselves in relation to previous historical movements?
What are the media forms of gender discourses?
Social movements/activism/politics and gender
Which new forms of protest and activism develop within or in relation
to the pop - cultural field?
Reception of popular culture
How is the reception of pop - cultural products gendered?
Are there new reception habits?
Education and training
How can (new) pop - cultural artefacts be implemented in school and other pedagogical fields?

Paper presentations should not exceed 20 minutes.
If you are interested in participating, please send your abstract (300 words) by 30 November 2015 to
gender@uni-rostock.de


Contributors may present papers in German or English.