Obscenity & Censorship: (Re)Constructing Taboos

GRADUATE ASSOCIATION OF FRENCH & ITALIAN
DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH & ITALIAN UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON
APRIL 9 & 1O, 2021 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
KEYNOTE: DR. CHRIS FORSTER (SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY)
34TH ANNUAL INTERDISCIPLINARY GRADUATE STUDENT SYMPOSIUM CALL FOR PAPERS

The "Obscenity & Censorship" Conference:

A word, or a phrase or a work of art deemed obscene for not following the moral structures and sensibilities of a particular period is a tale as old as time. Yet, we as humans often take these judgments at face value, attributing it to the dominant culture at hand and uttering it?s just the way things are. If we turn a more critical eye to these works that were not only accused of being obscene, but also underwent a trial to validate that judgment, it bears asking: who or what has the authority to deem a work of art as such. Who or what determines that an exposed breast in a painting by Rosso Fiorentino is less obscene than a paragraph of libertine literature penned by the Marquis de Sade or than a cinematographic shot of male genitalia in the Decameron?

We invite you to address and dialogue with the inherent morality or obscenity within our numerous and varied fields of study. This ambiguous, if not ambivalent, judgment placed on works of art can also quite easily be extended to pop culture and everyday life. We hope that GAFIS 2021 will be a place of compelling and productive interdisciplinary discussion on the topic of obscenity.

We would like to invite scholars to submit a paper from any, but not limited to the following areas:
- Gender & Women's Studies
- MaterialCultures
- Foreign Language & Literature
- Film, Theater & Performance Art
- Psychology
- Law
- Intersectional Studies
- Art & Art History
- History & Political Science
- Anthropology
- Sociology
- Philosophy
- ReligiousStudies
- Aging & Disability Studies
- Critical Race, Post-Colonial & Cultural Studies

Please submit your abstract to Irene Hatzopoulos & Charles Kilian at gafis2021@gmail.com by 11:59pm CST on January 24th, 2021. Including your name, academic affiliation, and title of presentation. Your abstract should not exceed 300 words. Please also include a short bio in your submission. Presentations must be between 15 and 20 minutes, and in English.