21st Century Horror(s) on Screen: Catharsis or Call to Arms?
We are currently at a time of crisis, in some ways perhaps familiar to us– war, pestilence, and greed – but in other ways seemingly apocalyptic, as the transgressions against one another and against the planet accumulate and accelerate. Psychoanalytically speaking, from Freud through to Bettelheim, Bion, and Lacan, the role and function of myth and story-telling has been theorized as an important aspect of human meaning-making in relation to subjectivity but also in relation to the social bond. Taking up the tasks once held by myth and fairy tales, today, the screen, large and small, seems to provide arenas in which the troubles of our time are considered, at times indeed, becoming the locus for mythic representations of universal themes.
In this light, we notice how young adult programming has taken on these apocalyptic concerns, in the form of serial dramas, such as Stranger Things and The Last of Us, apparently seeking salvation by breaking through walls of space and time to imagine a future beyond this universe we have been destroying. We also see how contemporary horrors such as racism, mental illness, neurodiversity, ambivalence, war, and genocide) are reconceptualized through the cinematic and TV lens (eg.,Von Trier’s Melancholia, Jordan Peele’s oeuvre, Lanthimos’ 2024 Poor Things etc) attaining mythic status through such reconceptualization. We also observe increased attention to cannibalism, both literal and metaphorical, for instance in Midnight Mass, as humans strive to negotiate otherness and relationality in environments that aim to deny both. Representations of monsters and monstrosity, in Jennifer’s Body, for example, also abound and open up spaces for the reclamation of marginalized LGBT identities once demonized by such tropes.
In this special issue, we invite proposals that look at offerings on the large and small screen that investigate this realm of a contemporary gothic from a psychoanalytic or a psychoanalytically informed psychosocial perspective. We hope to explore how 21st century horror(s) on screen can be thought of as taking us beyond the cathartic cheaply-resolved fright-bump to a scansion, in Lacan’s sense, that breaks into what has become too familiar and is proving to be deadly.
To propose a contribution, please submit an abstract (300-500 words) and an author bio (100 words) for each contributor to the special issue editors (mcharlesphd@gmail.com and carolowensappi@gmail.com) by May 1, 2024. Ensure the abstract clearly connects to the theme of the issue.
All papers should conform to PCS guidelines and be in accordance with our mission:
Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society is an international journal publishing original, refereed articles. The journal critically addresses the intersection between psychoanalysis and the social world and explores the roles psychoanalysis might play in bringing about social justice and progressive social change. Articles focus on the political or social implications of their topic. PCS publishes both clinical and academic papers and welcomes relevant contributions from all disciplines and all psychoanalytic schools of thought. All submissions—whether original articles, field notes (short commentaries on international or domestic political/cultural issues and events), key concepts, book reviews, or letters to the editors—should address the unconscious roots or consequences of social problems, inequalities, and injustice.
Key Dates:
Proposals are due May 1, 2024
Initial drafts of accepted proposals due: September 1, 2024
Final drafts due: December 1, 2024
All submissions are to be submitted to the journal’s Editorial Manager through the journal submission portal, and must conform in length, style, and writing quality to the journal parameters. Manuscripts must fit within the mission statement of the journal, which states: “Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society is an international journal publishing original, refereed articles. The journal critically addresses the intersection between psychoanalysis and the social world and explores the roles psychoanalysis might play in bringing about social justice and progressive social change. Articles focus on the political or social implications of their topic. PCS publishes both clinical and academic papers and welcomes relevant contributions from all disciplines and all psychoanalytic schools of thought. All submissions—whether original articles, field notes (short commentaries on international or domestic political/cultural issues and events), key concepts, book reviews, or letters to the editors—should address the unconscious roots or consequences of social problems, inequalities, and injustice”.
