[ecrea] Call for proposals: (Book) Why Are We All Gagging? The Cultural Impact of RuPaul’s Drag Race

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

*(Book) Why Are We All Gagging? The Cultural Impact of RuPaul’s Drag Race*
Editor: Cameron Crookston
Publisher: Intellect Ltd.

*Aims & Scope*

Since its premier in 2009, RuPaul’s Drag Race has grown in both its 
popularity and its influence. In recent years the show has displayed 
signs of increasing mainstream attention, including a move to a major 
network, VH1, twenty Emmy nominations and four wins, and two 
incarnations of DragCon, an annual convention held in New York and Los 
Angeles drawing upwards of 40,000. In addition to its individual 
successes, Drag Race has had a significant impact on drag as a queer 
cultural art form. Drag Race has transmitted what was once a niche, 
subcultural performance into millions of living rooms across the globe, 
drastically amplifying drag audiences. As a result, the popular reality 
show has become the yardstick against which these new audiences measure 
drag in all its forms. Similarly, the show’s popularity has lead to what 
season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen (Christopher Caldwell) refers to as 
‘the drag race baby boom’, in which the numbers of aspiring queens 
around the world has skyrocketed since Drag Race hit the airwaves.

In addition to more covert influences on local drag culture, RuPaul’s 
Drag Race has become a visible spectre in bars and villages around the 
world. From private viewing parties to ‘live’ screenings hosted by local 
queens in neighbourhood bars, communal viewing of drag race has become a 
shared cultural practice, from Toronto to Berlin, akin to Super Bowl 
parties or World Cup gathering at local pubs.

This CFP invites scholars to contribute book chapters that analyze the 
relationship between RuPaul’s Drag Race and local and global drag 
culture, both with respect to audience and performers. While several 
publications have emerged in recent years that analyze Drag Race in and 
of itself, we seek to pay particular critical attention to the cultural 
impact that RuPaul’s Drag Race has had, and continues to have, on the 
world of drag.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

  * The fan culture of RuPaul’s Drag Race
  * DragCon
  * The ‘Drag Baby Boom’
  * The impact on drag race on local/regional drag communities
  * Interaction between fans and queens on social media
  * Drag Race’s engagement with and performance of LGBT+ history and
    politics
  * Mainstream popularity and the growing fanbase of straight, female teens
  * Live viewing parties of Drag Race at local drag bars
  * Drag Race as a platform for public debate (particularly racism and
    transphobia)
  * ‘Drag Voice’: circulation of queer subcultural language and
    vocabulary on Drag Race

*To Apply*

Please submit the following (toCameron.crookston /at/ mail.utoronto.ca) 
<mailto:(Cameron.crookston /at/ mail.utoronto.ca)>by September 30 2018.

  * Title
  * An abstract of up to 500 words
  * A brief bio of up to 200 words. Please include contact information:
    name(s), institutional affiliation(s), email
  * 3-5 keywords/phrases

Please submit using MS Word and save your file as .doc file for 
compatibility.

*Papers*

Final papers should be approximately 6000-9000 words, including references.

Contributors will be sent chapter format and guidelines upon acceptance. 
Full manuscripts will be sent out for blind peer review.

*Production Schedule (subject to change)*

  * September 30, 2018 - Chapter Abstracts Due
  * October 21, 2018- Acceptance emails sent out to successful applicants
  * March 21, 2019: Chapter Submissions Due
  * August 21, 2019: Revised Papers Due
  * September 21, 2019: Manuscript submitted to publisher (Intellect Ltd.)

Please address any questions to:

  * (Cameron.crookston /at/ mail.utoronto.ca)
    <mailto:(Cameron.crookston /at/ mail.utoronto.ca)>
  * Cameron Crookston, PhD Candidate, The Centre for Drama, Theatre, and
    Performance Studies, The University of Toronto
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