CFP: John Waters and Philosophy

Extended Call for Abstracts: John Waters and Philosophy

Edited by Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray and Rob Luzecky.

Abstracts are being solicited for a new book, John Waters and Philosophy (Lexington Books, for the series The Philosophy of Popular Culture).

According to John Waters, this filthy world we live in is beautiful. Everywhere, even in the pigpens, trailer parks, garbage dumps and soiled secondhand stores there is art and beauty to be found.  Art, for Waters, shouldn’t necessarily be popular or liked, but rather should be something that pushes your limits, even surpasses them and shocks you.  Thus, these motifs dominate his work, he is: subversive, filthy, revolutionary, witty, and sexual.  Most importantly, whether he writes about the strange characters he meets while hitchhiking across the USA, or films his loyal friend and infamous Dreamland drag queen cast member, Divine, eating dog poop off the sidewalk, he considers himself to be an artist, one who shows us elements of society we often try our best not to acknowledge. He forces us to see the un-seen, and in this confrontation a dialogue within ourselves arises where we contemplate our core values and ideas about meaning, identity, existence, morality, life, beauty, taste, etc., and thus every major area of philosophy becomes engaged and alive.

This book will explore the various philosophical aspects of Water’s work, and examine his characters, stories, and productions for their contributions to perennial discussions about aesthetics, film theory, gender studies, sexual diversity, phenomenology, existentialism, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, social philosophy. Chapters are solicited that investigate philosophical themes written in an approachable style for a general audience of lovers of philosophy and John Waters.

We seek abstracts of around 500 words for essays of about 5000 - 6000 words in which some aspect of John Waters’ films or books are examined.  

 
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Please submit an abstract of around 500 words, as a Word attachment, to: [email protected] and [email protected]

 
SUBMISSION TIMELINES:

Deadline:  June 1, 2015.

Notification of Acceptance: June 30, 2015.