Sex, Power, Love and Money: Media and Sexualisation of Everyday in the Post-Soviet spaces

Venue: University of Leicester, UK
Period: 15 June 2017

The workshop will deal with the topical issue of mediation of sexuality and its utilisation for various ends in the Russian Federation and the neighbouring states. This is particularly important in the context of recent legislative (e.g. 2013’s ‘anti-gay law’ in Russia) and societal changes triggered by an ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis (e.g. a reinforced ideology of patriotism and the militarised narrative within the New Cold War rhetoric (Hartmann, 2014)). By looking at recent TV series, talk shows, films, online narratives the workshop addresses the increasing mediatisation of the sex/uality in the region. The key note will be given by Professor of Cultural Studies, Communication and Media Feona Atwood and the discussion will be chaired by Professor of Russian Studies Stephen Hutchings.

The workshop is the first event of the newly formed British Association of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies (BASEES) study group on (Digital) Media and Cultures. The study group’s primary focus is in the arts and humanities, cultural studies, film and media. The supplementary focus on digital culture is determined by the rise of multiplatform networked systems for producing and delivering media content.

The June workshop participants will be asked to compress their thoughts into 10-minute talks that would showcase a topic, challenge an issue, or develop a theoretical framework related to the workshop theme. The event will also be used to brainstorm other themes, centres, potential networks, funding sources and the scope for collaboration.

The workshop will be a one-day event.  Those interested in taking part in the workshop should send the organisers an abstract (150-200 words) and a short bio (100-150 words) before 25 March 2017.

The organisers will be able to make a small contribution to travel expenses. Submissions from doctoral students are particularly welcome. 

Galina Miazhevich
University of Leicester
E-mail: gm223@le.ac.uk

Vlad Strukov
University of Leeds
E-mail: v.strukov@leeds.ac.uk