>From Oscar Wilde to Kelly Osborne, Jean Genet to Judy Garland, 'Querelle' to
'the Sound of Music' …

Forum, the University of Edinburgh's postgraduate online journal, invites
papers for its spring 2007 issue: Camp!

Susan Sontag's 'Notes on Camp' of 1964 initiated a series of debates on Camp
and its politics. According to Sontag, 'it goes without saying that the Camp
sensibility is disengaged, depoliticized – or at least apolitical'. Sontag
took camp away from its roots in gay male culture and made it accessible to
all. Gay male theorists fought to reclaim the term, laying claim to Camp as
a highly political means of expression, resistance and empowerment for gay
men. As Andy Medhurst claimed, 'it's ours, all ours, just ours, and the time
has come to bring it back home'. How does this essentialised view sit in
today's postmodern world? Is there still the need for identity politics in
the current queer climate? Who has access to Camp and the Camp sensibility?
Is lesbian, queer or heterosexual Camp possible? Is Camp a useful and
empowering concept for women or is it perhaps inherently misogynist? How
politically useful is Camp in a world where identities and lifestyles are
commodified? Does it still have meaning and the potential to empower or has
it been co-opted by the mainstream? And where exactly does Campness lie? Can
anything or anyone be seen as Camp? Is it in the eye of the beholder, or
intrinsic to the object or person? Perhaps it's both; 'a coded, ironic
'wink', a knowing glance shared between a cognizant perceiver – who can read
and appreciate this wink – and a performative agent' (George
Piggford).Finally, how unCamp is it to write about Camp?

We are seeking articles from a variety of disciplines, which engage with
Camp in literature, art, film, theatre, popular culture and the media.
Submissions could consider, but are not limited to, any of the following:

- 'Being-as-playing-a-role' (Sontag)
- High Camp
- 'The Sound of Camp Music'
- The Camp Nation/Camping the nation
- Lip gloss and latex: the commodification of Camp
- Queer Camp
- Feminist Camp
- Straight Camp/Metrosexual Camp
- Stars/ divas/ icons
- Camping the mainstream
- Men in tights: Camp in the theatre
- Camp as resistance/ empowerment
- The politics of Camp
- Tantrums and tiaras: camping the Monarchy
- Camp: bad taste?

The deadline for article submissions is 12th January 2007. Papers should be
between 3,000 and 5,000 words and formatted in accordance with the MLA
guidelines and should be submitted to artsjournal.forum_at_ed.ac.uk.

Any questions should be directed to clare_bielby_at_hotmail.com or
sallypat_henderson_at_hotmail.co.uk.

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Received on Fri Oct 06 2006 - 15:56:42 EDT