Carnal resonance: affect and online pornography PDF
Preview Carnal resonance: affect and online pornography
Carnal Resonance Carnal Resonance Affect and Online Pornography Susanna Paasonen The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2011 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. Author’s note In various places throughout this book I have provided URLs for Web sites that illustrate my analysis and that, I believe, will enhance the reader’s under- standing of what I have to say. Some readers may find these sites offensive, however, and should exercise caution in visiting the URLs. Readers should also be aware that porn sites are sometimes infected with malware that can infect a visitor’s computer. MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales promotional use. For information, please email [email protected]. This book was set in Stone Sans and Stone Serif by the MIT Press. Printed and bound in Spain. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Paasonen, Susanna, 1975– Carnal resonance : affect and online pornography / Susanna Paasonen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-01631-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Internet pornography—Research. 2. Internet research. I. Title. HQ471.P33 2011 306.77—dc22 2011007758 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Preface vii 1 Introduction: Carnal Appeal 1 2 Bad Taste, Miasmic Forces, and the Ubiquity of Online Porn 31 3 Amateur Wives and the Attraction of Authenticity 71 4 The Literal and the Hyperbolic: Mapping the Modalities of Online Porn 115 5 Visual Pleasures: From Gaze to Grab and Resonance 165 6 Absolutely Disgusting: Shock Sites, Extremity, and the Forbidden Fruit 207 7 Conclusions: The Tactile Grab of Online Pornography 251 Notes 263 References 279 Index 305 Preface Initially, this book was to be one article in my postdoctoral research project on issues of location and interpretation in Internet research. Although it seemed obvious to me that there was much to be said about online por- nography back in 2002 when I was setting out to study it, little did I know that I would be occupied with the project for years to come. By the time my first article on online porn was published, I already disagreed with some of its premises and conclusions. This experience—of disagreeing with my essays even before they come out in print—has often been repeated, and I find that forthcoming texts are already dated as my takes and stances on the topic evolve. The longer I have investigated online pornography, the more complex and interesting things have become. Things that seemed straightforward at first turned out to be much more ambiguous and in acute need of theorization. Although Carnal Resonance draws on my previous work on porn spam email and online pornography, it results from a process of constant rethinking and rewriting during which most things have not remained the same. This project evolved from a neat idea for one article-length case study into a multiple-year exploration of the forms, paradoxes, and affective dynamics of online pornography. During this time, I have worked in sev- eral different research environments—the program for Media Culture at the University of Tampere, the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of Turku, the Digital Culture MA program at the University of Jyväskylä, and the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies at University of Helsinki, where I was fortunate enough to be a research fellow for three years and finished the first full drafts of the manuscript. Working in the Finnish aca- demia involves constant instability and insecurity in terms of contracts (and career), yet this environment also supports and appreciates investigations viii Preface into online pornography and its less avant-garde variations. My process of thinking through online porn and its affective intensities has been shared by friends, students, and colleagues, and I greatly appreciate their insightful comments, questions, challenges, critiques, and encouragement. A decade ago, Anu Koivunen, Mari Pajala, and I organized a conference called Affective Encounters on rethinking embodiment in feminist media studies. In hindsight, I realize that I was not quite able to grasp the diver- sity of issues included under the conference topic, yet I have been lucky to learn from Anu and Mari and continue to do so. Disturbing Differences: Feminist Readings of Identity, Location, and Power, the research project with Marianne Liljeström, Ilana Aalto, Johanna Ahonen, Katariina Kyrölä, Anu Laukkanen, and Elina Valovirta at the University of Turku, has also been an important intellectual resource and support in helping me think through ways of working with affect in feminist research. I owe much to Kaarina Nikunen and Laura Saarenmaa for the pleasurable collaborations on the texts we coauthored, the two porn books we edited together, and the dis- cussions we have shared on and off topic. Feona Attwood, whom I met through textual collaborations, continues to impress and inspire me with her analytical insights and intellectual enthusiasm. Without these kinds of encounters and collaborations, I would not have studied porn for as long or as intensely as I have. I would like to extend my thanks to all those who have commented on the various stages of my research in seminars, conferences, and peer review processes over the years. These drafts have occasionally been raw indeed, and with some of them, cooking has been possible only with this collegial fuel. The Association of Internet Researchers and its annual conferences have been one crucial framework and a social hub for this research. Michele White has engaged me in fascinating discussions ranging from visible panty lines to domestic filth, in addition to involving me in different networks and constellations of queer, feminist, and postcolonial Internet researchers. Ken Hillis keeps reminding me of how crucial it is to theorize online phe- nomena with his own stellar example, while Terri Senft has made me revisit the notion of transmission of affect with her contagious intellectual energy. Jenny Sundén, my Swedish twin, has witnessed this book evolve from scattered remarks to something more formulated and has made sophisti- cated comments throughout. In addition, I would especially like to thank Nancy Baym, Megan Boler, Mia Consalvo, Jillana Enteen, Charles Ess, Sal Preface ix Humphreys, Kylie Jarrett, Nalini Kotamraju, Ben Light, Sharif Mowlabocus, Lisa Nakamura, and Irina Shklovski of the AoIR crowd (broadly defined) for their enthusiasm and support. The netporn criticism conferences of 2005 and 2007 were wonderful catalysts for this project, and I much appreciate being invited to the first one by Katrien Jacobs. The input of the editors for the books and journals that I have con- tributed to on this topic remains evident in the pages below, for which I am grateful. The anonymous reviewers at the MIT Press provided feedback, encouragement, and suggestions that were of great value as I was finishing the book manuscript. My editor, Douglas Sery, has been extremely orga- nized and supportive, and it is thanks to him that the book includes illus- trations. In addition to those mentioned above, I would like to thank Kati Åberg, Karen Boyle, Jordan Crandall, Nina Czegledy, Sari Elfving, Maria Fer- nandez, Sara Heinämaa, Amanda McDonald Crowley, Brian McNair, Sergio Messina, Emilia Palonen, Jussi Parikka, Leena-Maija Rossi, Ingrid Ryberg, Tanja Sihvonen, Clarissa Smith, Johanna Uotinen, Annamari Vänskä, and Adrianne Wortzel for listening to my trains of thought and helping me forward. Witnessing Tarja Laine’s drive to finish her book on cinema and emotion inspired me to focus on completing my own manuscript and to set deadlines for making it happen. The company and friendship of the Fab Five—Mari, Tarja, Eeva-Liisa Jokela, Maaretta Tukiainen, and Ilona Vir- tanen—remains an ever-important anchor in the stormy seas of academe. Soft-core pornography was introduced to Finnish national television in the 1980s. The screening of the film Emmanuelle in 1987 was followed by a series of X-rated films that were rendered less offensive to viewers by the pink floating hearts that were placed on top of strategic body parts. My family watched these films collectively in situations characterized by ironic distancing comments, laughter, and acute self-awareness. This over- all awkwardness efficiently stripped the films of their potential titillation value while the parental regulatory gaze worked its alienating effect. These uncomfortable viewing experiences taught me at an early age that there is much more than sexual arousal to the affective dynamics of porn and that porn can also be an object of shared curiosity. My parents, Eija and Asko Paasonen, have taken great pride in my porn research, perhaps because compared to some of my previous studies, this topic is something they can relate to. I would also like to thank my sister, Sarianne, for being there with me in all those awkward moments.
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