[ecrea] The Wire -- call for submissions

> > Fran Bartkowski ((franb /at/ andromeda.rutgers.edu))
> > Sherri-Ann Butterfield ((sbutter /at/ andromeda.rutgers.edu))
> >
> > Project description
> >
> >
> > 24/7 Believe: Watching The Wire is a collection of essays by
> > academics and writers who have become fans, fanatics even, for this
> > particular HBO television series which is currently broadcasting its
> > final of five seasons.  Word on The Wire seems to have picked up
> > steam as each season fans spread the word among their friends and
> > associates.  By this winter, with the final season imminent
> > conversations proliferated in communities that resemble the Baltimore
> > depicted in this series as well as in cultures like the university
> > that are as far from this scene as one can imagine.
> >
> >          More than earlier HBO series such as The
> > Sopranos, Deadwood, or Six Feet Under which have certainly gotten
> > many of us to sit before the small screen, The Wire has us examining
> > from our various disciplinary backgrounds why we are so hooked,
> > addicted even, on this particular show in a way that is quite
> > different from those above.  This is not a family romance, nor a
> > simple workplace drama or comedy; nor is it just another cop show.
> >  In countless conversations the points of reference may range from
> > Dickensian, to Shakespearean to Greek as we search for earlier models
> > of storytelling that please and instruct us in the ways of human
> > behavior, questions of fate, forms of community, and strategies for
> > survival.
> >
> > In The Wires effort to renounce traditional themes of good and evil,
> > the show creates a realistic vision of contemporary urban America. By
> > exploring the complexity and interconnectedness of law and order,
> > viewers are exposed to the multitude of ways that the everyday social
> > issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, crime, education, politics,
> > and health care can be, and often are, interdependent.  The beauty of
> > the show lies in the fact that regardless of what side of the law the
> > characters fall on, their depictions are complex, tragic, earnest,
> > heartfelt and heartbreaking. As a result, viewers become immersed in
> > the characters and find themselves identifying with them at various
> > points, despite said characters relationship to the criminal justice
> > system. It is this identification with the characters of The Wire
> > that leaves some viewers uncomfortable with their own preconceived
> > notions of right and wrong, while inspiring others to ask important
> > questions about the status quo of contemporary American society.
> >
> > The Wire is also painfully realistic in its depiction of various
> > social institutions such as the police department, City Hall, unions,
> > the educational system, as well as several elaborate drug-trafficking
> > organizations. It reveals the ways in which all of these institutions
> > can be dys- (and sometimes non-) functional, and the ways that
> > characters are often betrayed by the very organizations they serve.
> > We would argue that the allure, fascination, and addictive nature of
> > The Wire fundamentally lies in its ability to tie real human
> > qualities and conditions into the problematic nature of living in a
> > capitalist society that more than not serves the few at the expense
> > of the many.  Each week viewers are left wondering, hoping, and
> > fearing for how the characters will continue to navigate against
> > forces currently aligned against them.
> >
> >          We are a literary critic and a
> > sociologist­devoted to The Wire.  In our personal and professional
> > travels we have recently begun to discuss how widely we are finding
> > familiars who, like us, are thinking and talking about this series
> > repeatedly and in great detail with admiration that runs the gamut
> > from the actors cast, the writing, the cinematography, the richness
> > of the urban, the complexities of race, class and sexuality that are
> > represented in each of the five years of broadcasting.  The first
> > season explored the relations between the police and the drug-dealing
> > networks in Baltimore, with individuals on both sides of the law
> > finding their personal goals in direct conflict with those of the
> > organizations that they work for.  The second season kept those
> > threads going and turned its attention to the Baltimore docks, and
> > presented the complexity and the erosion of the American working
> > class through the vantage point of labor unions.  The third season
> > focused on the workings of City Hall and a mayoral election season
> > posing explicit questions about whether the political process can
> > truly alleviate some of the institutional barriers that individuals
> > experience on a daily basis.  The fourth landed us deep in the
> > problems of the urban school system and its dysfunctions juxtaposed
> > with the ways education comes from many sources other than schools
> > for urban youth, such as the local drug dealers.  The final season
> > takes on the press with the Baltimore Sun named and simultaneously
> > fictionalized exploring the current struggle in the print media to
> > determine and insist on what remain newsworthy items.
> > .
> >
> >          The Wire is the creation of David Simon
> > and Ed Burns, the former a one-time reporter for the Baltimore Sun,
> > the latter a former Baltimore detective and public school teacher.
> >  While the specifics of this city are crucial to the writing,
> > directing and filming of the series, for us who teach in Newark we
> > are regularly made to consider the resemblances between Baltimore and
> > our more local urban dysfunctions and dramas.  Some, like Tony
> > Kushner, the playwright and author of Angels in America, have
> > compared The Wire to the challenge of learning a new language: the
> > language of the drug world, the language of the Baltimore streets,
> > the idioms of the Baltimore police, the shaded dialects of the
> > neighborhoods and multiracial demographics of the city.
> >
> >          In essays of 3,000-6,000 words (15-20
> > essays) we would bring together the best writing we can find being
> > done right now while the show is still airing, and before all 5
> > seasons are available on DVD.  The wide range of disciplinary
> > expertise from potential contributors would not only reflect the mass
> > appeal of The Wire, but also speaks to the ability of the project to
> > attract a broad readership.  We envision the major themes of the
> > collection to be cultural contexts; race, gender and sexuality;
> > social institutions; narrative techniques and media influence.
> >  Sections might include: the city of Baltimore as context; the power
> > of language, silence and the stare; representations of Black
> > womanhood in relation to the male-dominated worlds of the street and
> > the law; the social and economic costs of urban development;
> > education in the classroom and on the street; the use of music; how
> > The Wire has transformed and redefined the genre of crime drama; and
> > HBO as the purveyor of knowledge.  Additionally, we imagine that
> > some essays will take up the arc of the entire series, while others
> > may focus on particular characters and even specific episodes which
> > dramatize a number of these interlocking issues.  We would ask for
> > abstracts of 250-500 words by end of April, and complete articles by
> > end of August 2008.  We expect to publish with Columbia University
> > Press.
> >

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Nico Carpentier (Phd)
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Studies on Media and Culture (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
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&
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Sponsored links ;)
----------------------------
NEW BOOKS OUT
Understanding Alternative Media
by Olga Bailey, Bart Cammaerts, Nico Carpentier
(December 2007)
http://mcgraw-hill.co.uk/html/0335222102.html
----------------------------
Participation and Media Production. Critical Reflections on Content Creation.
Edited by Nico Carpentier and Benjamin De Cleen
(January 2008)
<http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Participation-and-Media-Production--Critical-Reflections-on-Content-Creation1-84718-453-7.htm>http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Participation-and-Media-Production--Critical-Reflections-on-Content-Creation1-84718-453-7.htm 

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European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
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ECREA's Second European Communication Conference
Barcelona, 25-28 November 2008
http://www.ecrea2008barcelona.org/
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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