Call for articles about The Michael Jackson Trial
For special issue of the international journal 'Social Semiotics'
 
* How does Michael Jackson's trial, and the associated media spectacle,
mobilises ideas about gender, race, class, the body, queer, sexuality,
power, childhood/adulthood, fandom and celebrity?
* What does the reporting tell us about phenomena such as the U.S.
televised trial, the media event, the use of chat shows and the role of
personal testimony?
* What are the socio-political contexts and implications of this major
media spectacle?
 
The Michael Jackson ³pedophilia² trial has become a staple of global media.
This new phase of the pop superstar/icon's biography draws attention to the
volatile mix of race, sexuality, gender and celebrity status that has marked
media coverage of a range of late-twentieth century "scandals", such as the
OJ Simpson Trial, Princess Diana, Monica Lewinsky, Mike Tyson, etc. We are
interested in using the Michael Jackson trial to investigate the particular
ways in which his star persona has become the site where a number of
cultural anxieties about power, childhood, racialized sexuality, and
masculinity. We are also interested in drawing parallels between this trial
and other media spectacles, as Marjorie Garber and other scholars have
termed these phenomena. We are interested in exploring the reasons the
Michael Jackson media spectacle has resonated across cultural and national
borders, the forms of media practices it has enabled and also the particular
ways in which coverage of this celebrity scandal provides insight to
contemporary cultural formations.
 
Jenny Kitzinger is editing a special issue of the journal 'Social Semiotics'
and is inviting contributions around these and other questions. (Further
details about the journal are below)
 
If you are interested please send us a brief outline (no more than one page
by 20th May. We will then select from these abstracts to invite submission
of full articles. Articles should be between 4,000 and 8,000 words.
 
All articles will be subject to peer review. There is also the possibility
of an edited volume. If you have any queries contact Jenny Kitzinger on
kitzingerj_at_cardiff.ac.uk or telephone Jenny Kitzinger in the UK on 02920
874571.
 
Please send abstracts by email to kitzingerj_at_cardiff.ac.uk
(If you prefer to post your abstract - please send it to: Professor Jenny
Kitzinger, Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff
University, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3NB, U.K.)

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Received on Wed May 11 2005 - 15:49:56 EDT