[Commlist] Call for chapters: Edited collection 'WOKE TV: Politically Alert Television in the Trump, BLM, and Post-#MeToo Era'

*CALL FOR CHAPTERS: EDITED COLLECTION***

*“WOKE TV: Politically Alert Television in the Trump, BLM, and 
Post-#MeToo Era”***

*DEADLINE: NOV 1, 2020.***

*
*Debate around ‘woke television’ has been increasingly more present in 
popular parlance. Within television criticism, there has been heavy 
reflecting on (and co-constructing of) a meta-genre of contemporary US 
television characterized by a particular sensitization to issues of 
social justice, racial justice, and gender equity and a showcasing of 
commitment toward denouncing institutional ideologies such as structural 
poverty, white supremacy, and patriarchy. Indeed, a swell of popular 
criticism has been quick to discern the micro-contexts of politically 
alert television fiction, discussing for instance African-American 
history and white privilege in /Atlanta/ and /Dear White People/, 
diversity in /Star Trek/, progressive reimaginings of classic shows such 
as /Buffy/ and /Charmed/, the gender-swap in /Doctor Who/, LGBTQ 
pedagogy in the revival of /Will & Grace/, multidimensional female 
characters in /Glow/, complex and unapologetic teen sexuality in /Normal 
People/, /Big Mouth/ and /Sex Education/. These instances inform the 
notion of “woke television” as the inclusion of relevant and topical 
themes, blatantly calling out structural inequalities and delivering 
cultural texts that reify the pleasures and intricacies of ‘woke culture.’

Apart from celebrating contemporary television’s bold engagement with 
social, racial and gender-related issues, popular critical writing has 
simultaneously questioned the transformative and empowering implications 
of woke television, recognizing issues such as the ideological ambiguity 
of feminist shows (including the impossible-to-ignore whiteness of 
critically acclaimed /The Handmaid’s Tale/ and the poshness of 
/Fleabag/), as well as the problematic representational strategies of 
gendered violence and rape (for example, in /13 Reasons Why/)/. 
/Concurrently, the popular press has engaged in debates that challenge 
the legacy of some of television’s most revered cultural monuments, by 
exposing for example the problematic layers of shows such as 
/Friends/ and /Sex and the City/. Criticisms of this kind discuss 
‘wokeness’ not only within today’s cultural zeitgeist, but also as a 
rejuvenating source for contemporary television criticism, thus 
revealing a climate of close monitoring of television production and 
heightened expectations from entertainment—and one that specifically 
invites viewers to position themselves with regard to that wokeness.

‘Wokeness’ is not only addressed as a textual feature of contemporary 
television but also as part of particular production logic seeking to 
accommodate audiences in the Trump, BLM, and post-#MeToo era; as such, 
it genuflects to their needs for more complex takes on everyday 
realities and experiences, ones that are not exclusively tainted by the 
requirements of the ‘majority white’ viewers. Industrial perspectives, 
including Netflix’s commitment to inclusion and diversity and BBC’s 
strategy of “repurposing” classic novels to cater to contemporary 
television audiences, reveal a commitment to discussing and advancing 
social change within the industry itself. However, audiences’ reactions 
have been ambivalent: ranging from discovering newfound pleasures to 
complaining about how contemporary television reeks of didacticism and 
political correctness.

As little attention has been directed toward the concept of woke 
television within academia, /Woke TV/ aims to gather contributions that 
further explore how expressions of woke culture translate into the world 
of television narrative and representation, but also in dimensions of 
production and reception. This collection is primarily interested in 
navigating the context of US television; however, studies based on other 
national/cultural contexts will also be considered. We seek to engage 
with the following lines of inquiry: (a) industry perspectives, (b) 
textual (representational/discursive) approaches, (c) issues of audience 
reception, as well as (d) issues of critical reception. Possible topics 
include, but are not limited to, the following:

  * white privilege and racism-as-problem narratives (/Dear White
    People, Atlanta, Gentefied/)
  * revisiting/rewriting history (/Glow/, /Hollywood/)
  * strong women characters and female camaraderie (/Orange Is the New
    Black/)
  * quirky femininity (/Insecure/, /Broad City/)
  * toxic (but self-reflective) masculinity (/BoJack Horseman/)
  * woke teen TV (/Euphoria/, /Sex Education/, /Big Mouth/, /Never Have
    I Ever/)
  * woke reboots/revivals (/Will & Grace/, /The L Word Gen Q/)
  * retrospective criticism (/Friends, Sex and the City,/ etc. and
    whiteness)
  * woke TV as queer pedagogy
  * LGBTQIA+ superheroes
  * industry perspectives such as specific production logics/strategies,
    questions of casting, programming etc.
  * woke TV before ‘woke TV’
  * woke TV in international contexts
  * woke TV and its audiences
  * woke TV in popular criticism
  * woke TV and woke capitalism (e.g., woke advertising)

*Deadline for proposals: November 1, 2020***

*Notification of acceptance: November 15, 2020***

*Deadline for first drafts: February 15, 2021*

How to Submit Your Proposal:

Please submit one-page abstracts/proposals to either Georgia Aitaki 
((georgia.aitaki /at/ oru.se) <mailto:(georgia.aitaki /at/ oru.se)>) or Lauren J. 
DeCarvalho ((Lauren.DeCarvalho /at/ du.edu) <mailto:(Lauren.DeCarvalho /at/ du.edu)>) 
by November 1, 2020 and be sure to include both a tentative title and 
short biographical note.

About the Editors:

Georgia Aitaki is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication at Örebro 
University, Sweden.

Lauren J. DeCarvalho is an Assistant Professor in the Department of 
Media, Film and Journalism Studies at the University of Denver, USA.

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