Dark Side of Camp Aesthetics

Ingrid Hotz-Davies is Professor of English Literature and Gender Studies and co-director of the Centre for Gender and Diversity Research at the University of Tübingen, Germany.Georg Vogt is Lecturer at the Institute for Theatre, Film and Media Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria.Franziska Bergman is Junior Professor of Modern German Literature at the University of Trier, Germany.

• Introduction: "The dirt doesn’t get any worse": The Alliance of Camp and DirtIngrid Hotz-Davies, Georg Vogt and Franziska Bergmann Part I: Upside – Downside – Upside: Camp’s Dialectic of Dirt and Beauty1. The Jewel in the Gutter: Camp and the Incorporation of Dirt Ingrid Hotz- Davies2. Camp Conquests: Deconstructing the Sublime in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Christian Lassen3. "The Odd and Gory Things in Life": Roy Raz’ Music Videos and Camp Aesthetics Gero Bauer4. Camp as a Critical Strategy in And the Spring Comes Zairong XiangPart II: Trash, Dirt and Leftovers: The Oscillations of Matter 5. The "Available" Joe Brainard David Bergman6. Dirty Sound: The Camp Materialism of Blood Orgy of the Leather GirlsKristina Pia Hofer7. Camping Out in the Detritus of the 1960s Queer Underground: The "Moldy" Fantasies of Jack SmithRonald Gregg8. A Camp Fairy Tale: The Dirty Class of John Waters’ Desperate LivingGiulia Palladini9. Malapropos Desires: The Cinematic Oikos of Grey GardensGeorg VogtPart III: Debris of the Past10. Camp Patina: Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, Transvestism and Gründerzeit FurnitureFranziska Bergmann11. Camping Indigeneity: The Queer Politics of Kent MonkmanAstrid M. Fellner12. Innocence Unprotected: Camp in Yugoslavian CinemaMilisava Petković

"This collection makes a compelling case for camp’s materiality and affinity with the filthy and the queer. Engaging with and moving beyond previous Anglo-American debates (What defines camp taste? Is camp queer?), the contributors offer a more expansive range of examples of camp strategies, economies, and modalities than previously available, and demonstrate the urgency of reparative queer ways of reading and attaching to popular cultural texts." -Nicholas de Villiers, University of North Florida and author of Opacity and the Closet: Queer Tactics in Foucault, Barthes, and Warhol"This collection of essays gives insight into interlocking complexities of liminality of camp aesthetics and queer politics of bad taste. In the critical and comprehensive discussions, the authors exhibit varied approaches from literary studies to film studies, providing a valuable archive of camp’s performative practices and its alliance with abjection. The book is an essential contribution to cultural studies that explores the fascinating and open-ended world of camp sensibility." -Justyna Stepien, Szczecin University, Poland