Call for Papers

Reading HBO’s Euphoria - Edited Collection

In recent years, there has been no more controversial TV series than HBO’s Euphoria. Adapted from an Israeli production by the same name, by Sam Levinson, its explicit portrayal of Gen Z addiction, sexual violence, and identity crisis has attracted cult devotion and open-mouthed condemnation. The furore around Euphoria’s portrayals of heroin, nudity and mental health have obscured just how complex a take on our culture this high school drama really is. Peek behind the social-media-mirroring of its tone, and you find a work of deep sophistication. 

This collection seeks readings of the show’s innovative artistry, its experimentation with form, and its multi-layered approach to a world many artists have given up hope of trying to understand. Glad to lack the safety of hindsight, we are looking for essays that explore the feelings Euphoria induces here and now – for the parent-age viewer as much as the people whose realities it mocks up. And we encourage instinctive responses to where such a strange, shocking, beautiful and illuminating work might fit in the history of 20thand 21stcentury art. We are interested in papers from a range of disciplines which engage with aspects of these themes, and those which consider any of the following:

• Space and location - the role of suburbia and malaise

• Identity

• Bodies

• Technology and social media

• American histories

• Unrest - both social/cultural, and personal 

• Theory (such as the use of Lacan, Deleuze, Guitarri, Haraway, Hayles etc)

• Gender, sexuality and queer theory

• Intertextuality - both screen and literature

• Surveillance and power

• Music

• Authenticity

• Hookup Culture

• Mental Illness

• Drug culture

• Greif

All subjects are welcome, with the proviso that the collection will be structured around key themes including: gender, culture, and history.

Researchers at all stages are welcomed. Abstracts of 300 words and a short biography should be submitted to Antonia Mackay (antoniamackay@brookes.ac.uk) and Guy Stevenson (gnastevenson@gmail.com) by January 27th 2023.