Call for proposals: (Book) Why Are We All Gagging? The Cultural Impact of RuPaul’s Drag Race

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

*(Book) Why Are We All Gagging? The Cultural Impact of RuPaul’s Drag Race*
Editor: Cameron Crookston
Publisher: Intellect Ltd.

*Aims & Scope*

Since its premier in 2009, RuPaul’s Drag Race has grown in both its
popularity and its influence. In recent years the show has displayed signs
of increasing mainstream attention, including a move to a major network,
VH1, twenty Emmy nominations and four wins, and two incarnations of
DragCon, an annual convention held in New York and Los Angeles drawing
upwards of 40,000. In addition to its individual successes, Drag Race has
had a significant impact on drag as a queer cultural art form. Drag Race
has transmitted what was once a niche, subcultural performance into
millions of living rooms across the globe, drastically amplifying drag
audiences. As a result, the popular reality show has become the yardstick
against which these new audiences measure drag in all its forms. Similarly,
the show’s popularity has lead to what season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen
(Christopher Caldwell) refers to as ‘the drag race baby boom’, in which the
numbers of aspiring queens around the world has skyrocketed since Drag Race
hit the airwaves.

In addition to more covert influences on local drag culture, RuPaul’s Drag
Race has become a visible spectre in bars and villages around the world.
From private viewing parties to ‘live’ screenings hosted by local queens in
neighbourhood bars, communal viewing of drag race has become a shared
cultural practice, from Toronto to Berlin, akin to Super Bowl parties or
World Cup gathering at local pubs.

This CFP invites scholars to contribute book chapters that analyze the
relationship between RuPaul’s Drag Race and local and global drag culture,
both with respect to audience and performers. While several publications
have emerged in recent years that analyze Drag Race in and of itself, we
seek to pay particular critical attention to the cultural impact that
RuPaul’s Drag Race has had, and continues to have, on the world of drag.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

   - The fan culture of RuPaul’s Drag Race
   - DragCon
   - The ‘Drag Baby Boom’
   - The impact on drag race on local/regional drag communities
   - Interaction between fans and queens on social media
   - Drag Race’s engagement with and performance of LGBT+ history and
   politics
   - Mainstream popularity and the growing fanbase of straight, female teens
   - Live viewing parties of Drag Race at local drag bars
   - Drag Race as a platform for public debate (particularly racism and
   transphobia)
   - ‘Drag Voice’: circulation of queer subcultural language and vocabulary
   on Drag Race

*To Apply*

Please submit the following to [email protected] by
September 30 2018.

   - Title
   - An abstract of up to 500 words
   - A brief bio of up to 200 words. Please include contact information:
   name(s), institutional affiliation(s), email
   - 3-5 keywords/phrases

Please submit using MS Word and save your file as .doc file for
compatibility.

*Papers*

Final papers should be approximately 6000-9000 words, including references.

Contributors will be sent chapter format and guidelines upon acceptance.
Full manuscripts will be sent out for blind peer review.

*Production Schedule (subject to change)*

   - September 30, 2018 - Chapter Abstracts Due
   - October 21, 2018- Acceptance emails sent out to successful applicants
   - March 21, 2019: Chapter Submissions Due
   - August 21, 2019: Revised Papers Due
   - September 21, 2019: Manuscript submitted to publisher (Intellect Ltd.)

Please address any questions to:

   - [email protected]
   - Cameron Crookston, PhD Candidate, The Centre for Drama, Theatre, and
   Performance Studies, The University of Toronto

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