[Commlist] Synoptique - Call for Submissions "Animating LGBTQ+ Representations: Queering the Production of Movement"

Deadline for submission is *April 30, 2018*.

*Call for Submissions: “Animating LGBTQ+ Representations: Queering the 
Production of Movement”*
*Special Issue of /Synoptique: An Online Journal of Film and Moving 
Image Studies/*

At the heart of animation is movement, and the expression of movement is 
negotiated differently across media. How then do LGBTQ+ communities 
reappropriate the specificities of animation, comics, videogames, and 
other forms of visual representations that rely on putting bodies into 
motion? How does animation support the emergence of social and political 
movements from within, between, and outside media production spaces? 
Since 2010, studies of LGBTQ+ representation in animation have steadily 
increased in number. From queer readings (Halberstram 2011), to media 
histories (McLelland, Nagaike, Suganuma, Welker 2015), to queer media 
makers (such as bisexual, non-binary creator Rebecca Sugar and other 
queer animators like Noelle Stevenson and Chris Nee), animation 
production has become a vital site for the study, performance, and 
persistence of queer media practices. Although much conversation has 
been devoted to queer readings of texts in transmedia movements, the 
people, circuits, and institutions of queer animated media production 
have attracted significantly less attention.

By focusing on the “politics of movement,” we intend to grasp the 
convergence of 1) common techniques of animation in and across multiple 
media platforms, 2) means of mobile image production both amateur and 
industrial, and 3) social agendas in queer communities using the motion 
of images to negotiate their representation and place in society. While 
this issue will brush up against the various transmedia 
(narrative-based, Jenkins, 2008), media mix (image-based, Steinberg, 
2012) and cross-media (toy-based, Nogami, 2015) models and their 
cultural geographies across the globe, our central aim here is to expand 
the knowledge and visibility of LGBTQ+ sociopolitical projects evolving 
conjointly with the creation and circulation of animated images. 
Producing movement in, across, and outside of media extends the 
synchronization of images to networks of commodities, territories, and 
peoples. Although an important amount of scholarship tends to address 
this question as the “queering of texts,” we seek another point of view 
coming directly from the creation of moving images itself. Such 
production practices are also imbricated in and respond to geo-political 
and cultural contexts. How then does the movement in between frames, 
vignettes, illustrations, and memes (to name a few examples) initiate 
social action (be it just to produce pornography for marginalized 
communities or to create conventions for amateur artists and publics to 
meet)?

This issue of /Synoptique: An Online Journal of Film and Moving Image 
Studies /will focus on queer media practices and the politics of 
movement. When animating LGBTQ+ images, media creators are also 
mobilizing queer practices, communities, and identities. Therefore, we 
are particularly interested in analyses and testimonies that examine 
sites of queer media production and their animation techniques, 
strategies, and practices. We encourage contributions that examine the 
interactions of animation within media related to animation, such as 
comics and videogames, as forms of queer movement often overflow and 
interact throughout multiple media platforms (Hemmann, 2015). We also 
invite submissions of artwork either from queer-identifying artists and 
practitioners, or pieces that explore queer movement, embodiment, and 
existence. Interviews, manifestos, essays, and other forms of writing on 
animated movement in queer media making are warmly welcome, as are 
multimedia contributions.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:____

-The industrial or amateur structures of LGBTQ+ images production
-Movement in LGBTQ+ pornography and erotika
-Queer movement in comics, visual novels, videogames, etc.
-The strategies and places of queered images (“Queer” Media mix, 
Marketing, Festivals, and Conventions)
-Animated media production of the Global South (such as Brazilian 
Netflix show /Super Drags/)
-Distribution networks for LGBTQ+ animated series (TV, platforms, VOD)
-LGBTQ+ representations in animated media emerging from manga including 
both more mainstream (Boy’s Love, Yuri) and subcultural (so-called Bara 
or Gachimuchi) productions
-Local LGBTQ+ communities and their struggles expressed through moving 
images
-Queer movement across comics and animation
-Decolonizing sexualities
-Cosplay as queer (re)animation

__ We use a broad interpretation of LGBTQ+ identity, including Lesbian, 
Bisexual, Gay, Trans*, Queer/Questioning, Two-Spirit, Intersex, Agender, 
Asexual, Pansexual, Genderqueer, Genderfluid, Non-binary, X-gender, 
Genderfuck, etc.

Essays submitted for peer review should be approximately 5,500-7,500 
words and must conform to the Chicago author-date style (17th ed.). All 
images must be accompanied by photo credits and captions.____

We also warmly invite submissions to the review section, including 
conference or exhibition reports, film festival reports, and interviews 
related to the aforementioned topics. All non-peer review articles 
should be a maximum of 2,500 words and include a bibliography following 
Chicago author-date style (17th ed.).____

Multimedia works such as digital video, gifs, still images, or more 
(surprise us!) are also welcome. Works under 8MB may by hosted directly 
on the Synoptique site; anything larger must be uploaded to an external 
site (Youtube, Vimeo, etc). Please contact the Synoptique Board for more 
information on the procedures to submit artworks.

All submissions may be written in either French or English.

Please submit completed essays or reports to the Editorial Collective 
((_editor.synoptique /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(editor.synoptique /at/ gmail.com)>_) 
issue guest editors, Kevin J. Cooley ((_kevin.cooley /at/ ufl.edu) 
<mailto:(kevin.cooley /at/ ufl.edu)>_), Edmond (Edo) Ernest dit Alban 
((_ernestedo /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(ernestedo /at/ gmail.com)>_), and Jacqueline 
Ristola ((_jacqueline.ristola /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(jacqueline.ristola /at/ gmail.com)>_), by April 30^st . We will send 
notifications of acceptance by June 30^st .


/Synoptique: An Online Journal of Film and Moving Image Studies/
www.synoptique.ca <http://www.synoptique.ca>



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