CALL FOR PAPERS
Please distribute widely
Where Do You Want Me to Start? Producing History through Mad Men
Guest Editors: Amanda Graham and Erin Leary
The television network AMC=E2=80=99s historical drama Mad Men, set in 1960-=
64, premiered in 2007. While the program was slowly accepted by audiences, =
at least as slowly as its methodical narrative structures, it clearly struc=
k a chord among a cross-generational body of viewers, tripling in size from=
the first season. In order to engage with the show more fully, fans parade=
d in Mad Men-inspired costumes during Banana Republic-sponsored events in 2=
009 and 2010 in Times Square, =E2=80=9CMad Men-ed=E2=80=9D themselves onlin=
e, participated in the series=E2=80=99 Facebook page or the network=E2=80=
=99s online portals, downloaded period music, or simply watched each episod=
e. The show is a pervasive cultural force within the media landscape, but w=
hy does this program=E2=80=94which is situated several decades in the past=
=E2=80=94have such saliency today? How and why do viewers relate to these =
characters? How does Mad Men impact our understanding of current socio-cult=
ural environment? How does our contemporary cultural landscape inform how =
we read Mad Men?=20
When Mad Men entered into American living rooms, viewers=E2=80=99 lives wer=
e characterized by prosperity. One year later, in 2008, America=E2=80=99s =
nightmares were realized: widespread bankruptcy and home foreclosures occur=
red, unidentifiable villains and incomprehensible wars became the norm, rhe=
torics of socialism and communism were brandished by various political fact=
ions, racial tensions resurfaced, and technological angst became a part of =
citizens=E2=80=99 everyday realities and prompted them to question the Amer=
ican dream. These anxieties mirror those of the postwar era in which Mad Me=
n is set and traverse the spacio-temporal boundaries demarcating one period=
from the other.
Simultaneously, Mad Men asks the viewer to question social progress. When D=
on Draper and his family leave trash from a family picnic on park grounds, =
viewers may feel momentarily superior. When Peggy Olson is embarrassed to d=
eclare her pregnancy in the workplace, viewers could experience a sense of =
self-congratulatory modernity. Yet, self-reflective viewers are as likely t=
o wonder if much has actually changed. Highlighting these disjunctures and =
the functions of history encourages viewers to realize the wisdom of Don=E2=
=80=99s assertion that, =E2=80=9CChange isn=E2=80=99t good or bad. It just=
happens.=E2=80=9D=20
Why are fans so obsessed with Mad Men? Why this particular show? What does =
it mean to want to live in Mad Men or be in Mad Men? Do the parallels betwe=
en the nineteen-sixties (as interpreted by Mad Men) and the events of our =
contemporary moment serve to enhance our understandings of either era? Doe=
s the show=E2=80=99s depiction of the postwar period function as a site of =
nostalgia by virtue of its status as a present-day consumer product? Or doe=
s it perform the productive functions of the outmoded? Are these categorie=
s fruitful modes of analysis? How do they position this particular object f=
or a multi-generational audience?
Possible avenues for evaluation include, but are not limited to:=20
Narration
Considering the literary content of Mad Men=E2=80=94books, poems, etc. feat=
ured in conjunction with character development;
The symbolism in the music of Mad Men;
Influences of Hitchcock and the imagery of the falling man;
Relationships to other television programs, films, art works, and political=
events in our contemporary media/culturalscape=20
Consumption
Parallels in the relationships between the modern subject and consumption; =
baby boom, postwar affluence =E2=80=93 industry related to death of industr=
y economy =E2=80=93 outsourced labor?
Design, broadly encompassed to include architecture, fashion, interiors, gr=
aphic design;
Product placement, historical and contemporary;=20
Advertising analysis;
Environmentalism;
Viewer reception;
Technology (as reflected in the show, and as a mechanism for the show=E2=80=
=99s distribution)
Identity
Political consciousness and sexual awakening/promiscuity (male/female, gay/=
straight, pre/extra-marital);=20
Playing Yourself: Alter egos and virtuality;=20
class passing narratives;
The representation of homosexuality on screen and historically;
Motherhood; fatherhood
Infertility and class;
Questions of nationalism;
Character/actor =E2=80=9Cmetatext=E2=80=9D crossover to other shows/news
We solicit articles from a wide array of disciplines, including communicati=
on studies and anthropology, film and media studies, women=E2=80=99s studie=
s, literary criticism, music theory and history, as well as critical race s=
tudies and cultural studies generally defined.
Please send inquiries and completed papers (MLA style) of between 2,500 and=
5,000 words to Amanda Graham (agraham9[at]mail[dot]rochester[dot]edu) and =
Erin Leary (eleary2[at]mail[dot]rochester[dot]edu) by March 1, 2011.
Invisible Culture is also currently seeking submissions for book and exhibi=
tion reviews (600-1000 words). To submit book or exhibition review proposal=
s, please email ivcbookreviews[at]gmail[dot]com. For a list of reviewable t=
itles, see: http://www.rochester.edu/in_visibile_culture/Reviews/review_cop=
ies.html.
**********
Invisible Culture: An Electronic Journal for Visual Culture is a peer-revie=
wed journal dedicated to explorations of the material and political dimensi=
ons of cultural practices: the means by which cultural objects and communit=
ies are produced, the historical contexts in which they emerge, and the reg=
imes of knowledge or modes of social interaction to which they contribute.
http://www.rochester.edu/in_visible_culture/=20
--=20
Erin Leary
PhD Student, Visual and Cultural Studies
Department of Art & Art History
University of Rochester
