Call for Contributions: Gender and Sexuality in the Films of the Weimar Republic

Molly Harrabin — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 14:52:27 GMT

Call for Contributions - Gender and Sexuality in the Films of the Weimar Republic

Please find below the Call for Contributions for the Weimar Film Network’s special series of blog posts and film reviews on the topic of gender and sexuality in the films of the Weimar Republic. The editors are interested in receiving proposals from a wide range of disciplines and look forward to contributions that engage with a broad spectrum of topics, artistic forms, historical perspectives and methodologies. We welcome submissions from postgraduate researchers as well as early-career and more established scholars.

With very best wishes,

Molly Harrabin and Lawrence Alexander

Editors of the Weimar Film Network

2022 Special Collection: Gender and Sexuality in the Films of the Weimar Republic

The Weimar Film Network is coordinating a special series of blog posts and film reviews on the topic of gender and sexuality in the films of the Weimar Republic as part of its celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month and Women’s History Month in February and March 2022 respectively. In particular, the editors are seeking contributions that explore representations of gender and sexuality in German films released 1918-1933 and the extent to which these depictions mirrored and/or shaped societal attitudes and anxieties of the time. We encourage contributions that revisit and reevaluate the perception of the Weimar Republic as a ‘golden era’ in German film history and the canonical status of Weimar film as ‘historical imaginary’. We are particularly keen to see new insights into the field on topics/films that have previously been neglected. Contributions might consider the following topics:

Representations of female and/or queer characters in German film 1918-1933
Typologies and pathologies of sexual deviance and non-conforming gender identities, including but not limited to the work of Magnus Hirschfeld and the influence of ‘Aufklärungsfilme’
Overviews of gender and sexual reforms of the period
Representations of sex work and the figure of the prostitute
‘New women’ and femmes fatales
Cross-dressing, drag and androgynous style on film
Cyborgs, techno-fetishism and trans bodies
The relation of Weimar ‘body culture’ to film and visual culture
Queer parenthood and immaculate conceptions
Intersections of gender and sexuality with minoritarian identities such as race and class; exoticist articulations of erotic fantasy
Feminist/queer readings of films that are not typically associated with aspects of gender and/or sexuality
Spotlight on female/queer directors/actors of the period
Emasculation in Weimar Cinema
The legacy of Weimar in the Nazi era and how this shaped the Third Reich’s depiction of female and/or queer issues

Submission Details

Please submit a 250-350 word abstract and a short biographical statement by 10 January 2022 to weimarfilmnetwork@warwick.ac.uk. Acceptance notices will be sent by 17 January 2022. Contributions may be the work of an individual or a collaboration. Pieces will be published throughout February and March 2022 in celebration of LGBTQ+ and Women’s History months. If you have a preference as to which month your piece is released, please indicate when submitting your proposal.

Modern Languages and Cultures » Blog Posts » Call for Contributions: Gender and Sexuality in the Films of the Weimar Republic

Call for Contributions: Gender and Sexuality in the Films of the Weimar Republic