CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS

FRAMING THE SELF:
The Autobiographical 'Turn' in Germanophone Documentary

Co-Editors:
Robin Curtis
Assistant Professor
Collaborative Research Centre
"Cultures of Performativity"
Freie Universität Berlin
Robin.Curtisfu-berlin.de

Angelica Fenner
Assistant Professor
German & Cinema Studies
University of Toronto
Angelica.Fennerutoronto.ca

Email submission of abstracts of max. 400 words with brief bio blurb by
December 1, 2008
Response and feedback provided by January 15, 2009
Receipt of completed manuscripts of between 6,000-8,000 words requested June
15, 2009

In recent years, some of the most compelling, engaging, and innovative
non-fiction film and video has been generated from a very personal point of
view. The first-person stance in filmmaking is hardly new in the history of
international documentary, nor is reflexivity about the technological
apparatus which often attends such authorial endeavors. However, changing
media (interactive, multi-media, digital camera, mobile phones, etc.) have
expanded the possibilities for framing the self, and indeed, for pursuing
diverse agendas pertaining to personal identity ­exploring intricacies of
family relations, retracing the individual's interpellation by local and
national historical events, mapping alterities of sexuality, ethnicity, race
and culture, or abnegating the very possibility of a delimited self. In many
cases, such endeavors have resulted in the merging or 'nesting' of older,
obsolete, technologies within newer ones.

As the status of the individual witness behind and before the camera gains
global currency in both feature-length documentaries as well as independent
experimental work, it behooves us as scholars to take stock of the cultural
specificity of these autobiographical engagements. Is the self and its
representation in audio-visual form truly so constant that interpretive
models developed in particular cultural contexts, such as the North
American, can simply be mapped onto films from other cultures
Existing
scholarship to date has seldom taken up this challenge. The German-speaking
countries, in particular, have developed nationally distinct memory cultures
addressing overarching legacies such as that of the Third Reich, the
post-war division of Germany, and distinct political and economic regimes.
They moreover trace a singular relationship to social and political
categories of ethnicity, and the discourse (or lack thereof) of
multiculturalism. From a production point of view, they also boast unique
institutional structures and traditions in support of avant-garde and
independent film, as well as commercial filmmaking.

The anthology Framing the Self is unique in establishing the central
European nexus of Germanophone languages, cultures, and national histories,
i.e. that of (East and West) Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, as a point
of departure and of possible territorial return. We welcome rigorous and
engaging scholarly essays that take stock of the remarkable proliferation of
autobiographical documentary within these national arenas or spanning
transnational pathways established through migration, exile, travel, or
tourism. In acknowledgement of the increasing stylistic heterogeneity that
characterizes contemporary non-fiction filmmaking, we understand the term
'documentary' to encompass both narrative-driven feature-length work as well
as experimental modes that engage creatively with the lived world. We
encourage thoughtful engagement with existing discourses on autobiography in
the domain of literary theory (e.g. post-structuralist, deconstructionist,
materialist, or feminist approaches) in combination with a recognition of
the specific constraints and opportunities the audiovisual medium (whether
analog or digital) poses for artists who 'cross the frame' to position
themselves within an interpersonal, familial, national, or transnational
tableau. While filmic autobiography has been taken up by contemporary
theorists such as Michael Renov, Jim McBride, and Elisabeth Bruss, this
volume refutes the assumption underlying some of this work, that
theorization of the self and its visual representation can proceed outside
of cultural contextualization.

We recognize that, in some instances, there may be implicit challenges to
establishing a given audiovisual text as discernibly autobiographical. The
extensive documentary legacy of the GDR, for example, evinces virtually no
engagement with the autobiographical self; alternately, within the
avant-garde tradition, the self may elude definition or strive towards
discursive displacement. In general, where is the authoring self to be
located
And how has the auto/biographical stance undercut inherited
distinctions between public and personal archival endeavors
What new
understandings are emerging regarding the relationship between public event
and private experience; canonical historiographies and subjective memories;
national character and personal identity; and the interrelation between
family and the self
Recent innovations in recording technologies have also
prompted experimentation with narrative form, the terms of authorship,
performativity, confessionality, narcissism, and furthermore explore the
political efficacy of inscribing the self. Such analytical considerations
naturally assume a very different valence in the North American context than
in the European; North American scholarship should display a fluency in
recognizing and negotiating these differences.

This anthology will be published in English; however, some funds are
available for non-native English authors outside North America requesting
assistance with the translation or editing of original work. Negotiations
are in progress for publication in one of several university press series
that showcase German-speaking cinemas. We welcome queries or clarifying
questions from potential contributors at any time.

Dr. Robin Curtis
Freie Universität Berlin
"Synästhesie Effekte: kinetische und farbliche Dimensionen des Films"
Sonderforschungsbereich 447 - Kulturen des Performativen
Grunewaldstr. 35, 12165 Berlin, Germany
+4930 838 50339
rcurtiszedat.fu-berlin.de
http://personal.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/curtis