Talk

On Camp: Fabio Cleto and Călin Boto in conversation

November 7th, 17.00

on Facebook Live 

The concept of camp is a very slippery one. It was theorised for the first time by American critic Susan Sontag, in her 1964 essay “Notes on Camp’: “the essence of camp is its love of the unnatural:of artifice and exaggeration”. Pastiche, theatricality, irony and a sort of cheekiness are key to understanding camp, which oftenly functions as “something of a private code” according to Sontag. Her definition was contested on many occasions by different critics, especially regarding its political and subversive nature.  Among the various lists of people & things that file under camp you’ll find the opera, the androgyne, the Art Nouveau, Jeff Koons, The Catholic Church, Jackie Curtis, Jean Cocteau, Donald Trump. They’re all over-the- top somehow, but you’ll have to join the talk to really connect the dots.  

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SPEAKERS

Fabio Cleto

Fabio Cleto teaches Cultural History and English Literature at the University of Bergamo. An international authority on the theory and practice of camp, on which he published three books, his research interests include cultural studies, queer issues, gender and sexuality, critical theory and the politics of representation, fin de siècle to postmodernist fiction.

Călin Boto

Film critic and journalist. He works as an editor for All About Romanian Cinema and as a columnist for Arta Magazine (essays & reviews) and Films in Frame (interviews). A freelancer at heart. His exciting interests are scarce but include dubbing, film piracy, the neo-avant-garde, and gay pornography.