Ce numéro vise à étudier les processus sociaux qui sous-tendent le brouillage, le contournement, la subversion ou la transformation genrée des pratiques artistiques, à la fois dans les sociétés contemporaines et dans les sociétés passées. Fondé sur les travaux existants en sciences sociales sur le sujet, il éclairera cette question d’un jour nouveau et transversal. Les textes rassemblés dans ce numéro, tirés de cas empiriques originaux, saisiront les manières dont se dessinent concrètement les frontières du genre, dont elles se font et se défont. Par le jeu de la comparaison entre les arts, ils contribueront à mettre en évidence des processus porteurs, ou non, des transgressions ou subversions genrées des pratiques artistiques (danse, théâtre, musique, littérature, cinéma, arts plastiques, cirque…). 

Argument

Quantitative and qualitative surveys repeatedly reveal that artistic practices are gendered, whether they are professional or amateur, whether they happen in early childhood, adolescence, youth, adult life or in retirement. Women become singers, dancers or actors, while men become instrumentalist, photographers or videographers. And even when men and women engage in the same artistic practice, they perform or are perceived in a gendered way.

Several individual and collective publications have addressed this issue in the past ten years[1], mainly focused on the reproduction of gendered differences in arts. But we still lack a systematic comparative discussion of how gender can be transgressed, subverted or diverted through artistic practice: men who dance, play the harp or sing; women who work as jazz instrumentalists, perform as clowns or dance hip hop; “androgyneous”, “queer” or “trans” art performances; humorists putting on drag; women acting as men, men acting as women; “feminine” artists aiming at “universal” recognition; art performances inverting gendered stereotypes…

Explanations of these gendered transgressions, subversions or transformations are numerous and complex. Understanding them requires a precise observation of men’s and women’s practices and representations. One needs to empirically study – either ethnographically or historically - creative acts and learnings, body language, know-how and social skills…

This special issue intends to study the processes underlying gendered transgressions, subversions, clouding or transformations of artistic practices, in both past and contemporary societies, to illuminate this question in a renewed and original way while taking existing works into account.

We want articles which will compare how gendered frontiers are drawn, produced and blurred over time, underlining key processes shaping gendered transgressions or subversions of artistic practices.

Themes

We invite original proposals which address this issue empirically in any of the arts: theatre, circus, literature, music, plastic arts, cinema…We welcome proposals which study contemporary, as well as historical, cases from all over the world, perhaps focussing on specific life-spans in order to better grasp social contexts and distinguish primary and secondary socializations.

We have drawn three main axes which can be questioned separately or combined. This does not exclude other ways of approaching the issue, as long as transgressing artistic practices remain the primary focus. All proposals must be based on specific empirical research.

How policies and formal devices influence transgressions

Can we identify public policies, geographical spaces or cultural institutions which help transgressions happen? Are transgressions influenced by media, social or political device?

How family, scholarly, professional or leisure socialisation influences transgressions

What family, scholarly, professional or leisure socialisations influence these transgressions? Are they shaped by social logics which differ depending on age? Are they due to specific social or “ethnic” origins or formal training? How are transgressions or subversions embodied - gestures, words, looks…?

How artistic practices, transgress and receptions occur

How are transgressive artistic practices performed? How are they perceived and by whom? How are they visibly and objectively subverted? How does the performer’s social environment (family, friends, colleagues, critiques, producers, etc.) react to such transgressive or subversive practices? How do actors overcome stigmatisations and/or labelings in their daily life?

Submission guidelines

Proposals, up to 5000 or 6000 signs and including 5 key-words, written either in English or in French should be sent

by October 30th 2013

TO Marie Buscatto (marie.buscatto@univ-paris1.fr)

AND TO Anne Monjaret (anne.monjaret@ehess.fr).

Calendar

• October 30th 2013: proposals to be submitted (at the latest).
• November 2013: selection of articles implemented by the Ethnologie française Journal.
• Mid-December 2013: selected authors are advised and are provided with clear editorial rules.
• Beginning of May 2014: articles to be sent to editors (at the latest).
• Beginning of July 2014: authors receive reports to revise articles.
• Beginning of October 2014: articles (second version) to be sent to editors.
• January/February 2015: articles are to be accepted by the Ethnologie française reading committee.
• March-September 2015: final version of accepted articles and editorial corrections.
• October 2015: final articles to be sent to the publisher.
• November 2015: accepted authors proof-read their article for agreement to publish.
• January 2016: publication (paper, then on line).

[1] See for example Buscatto Marie / Leontsini Mary (dir.) « Les pratiques artistiques au prisme des stéréotypes de genre, Sociologie de l’art, 17, 2011. Jan-Ré Mélody (Eds) Créations. Le genre à l’œuvre 2. Paris, L’Harmattan, 2012. Fidecaro Agnès / Lachat Stéphanie (dir.) Profession : créatrice. La place des femmes dans le champ artistique. Lausanne, Editions Antipodes, 2007. Cacouault-Bitaud Marlène / Ravet Hyacinthe (dir.) « Les femmes, les arts et la culture », Travail, genre et sociétés, 19 (1), 2008. Donnat Olivier La féminisation des pratiques culturelles, Développement culturel, 147, 2005. Octobre Sylvie (dir.) « La socialisation culturelle sexuée des enfants au sein de la famille », Cahiers du genre, 49, 2010. For a transversal discussion of the litterature published about artistic practices as gendered practices see Buscatto Marie « Artistic Practices as Gendered Practices. Ways and Reasons ». In Zembylas Tasos (ed.) Artistic Practices, London, Routledge, 2014, to be published.

Scientific committee and editorial board

• Hermann Bausinger (Universität Tubingen, Allemagne)
• Christian Bromberger (université Aix-Marseille I/CNRS-IDEMEC, France)
• Pietro Clemente (Universita di Roma-La Sapienza, Italie)
• Alain Corbin (université Paris I, France)
• Jack Goody (St John’s College-Cambridge, Grande-Bretagne)
• Michael Herzfeld (Harvard University, Etats-Unis)
• Reinhard Johler(Universität Tubingen, Allemagne)
• Carmelo Lisón-Tolosana (Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Politicas, Espagne)
• Orvar Löfgren (Lund University, Suède)
• Mila Santova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgarie)

Editorial board

• Nicolas ADELL (université Toulouse II)
• Guy Barbichon (CNRS)
• Michèle Baussant (CNRS-LESC)
• André Burguière (EHESS)
• Sophie Chevalier (université de Franche-Comté)
• Gérard Collomb (CNRS-LAIOS)
• Philippe Combessie (université Paris Ouest-Nanterre la Défense)
• Sylvaine Conord (université Paris Ouest-Nanterre la Défense)
• Maria Couroucli (CNRS-LESC)
• Francis Demier (université Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense)
• Nicoletta Diasio(université de Strasbourg)
• Jean-Yves Durand (universidade do Minho, Portugal)
• Laurent-Sébastien Fournier (université de Nantes)
• Marie-Luce Gélard (université Paris-Descartes)
• Jean-Pierre Hassoun (CNRS-ITAC, EHESS)
• Monica Heintz (université Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense)
• Martin de La Soudière (CNRS-CETSAH)
• Richard Lioger (Université de Metz)
• Bernadette Lizet (CNRS-MNHN)
• Agnès Jeanjean (université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis)
• Laurent le Gall(université de Bretagne occidentale, Brest)
• Frédéric Maguet (Mucem-LAHIC)
• Vanessa Manceron (CNRS-MNHN)
• Anne Monjaret (CNRS-LAHIC-ITAC, EHESS)
• Jean-Pierre Peter (EHESS)
• Jean-Marie Privat (université de Lorraine)
• André Rauch (université Marc Bloch-Strasbourg)
• Gilles Raveneau (université Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense)
• Gabriel Segré (université Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense)
• Martin de la Soudière (CNRS–Centre Edgar Morin)
• Thierry Wendling (CNRS-IIAC-LAHIC)