- Surveiller et « embellir »: the Writings of Prostitutes and Sex Workers in the Light of Discursive (En)framing
- Surveiller et "embellir": les écrits des prostitué.e.s et des travailleur.se.s du sexe à l'aune de l'encadrement discursif
- Koliopanos, Yagos
Description
- The discourses of prostitutes are far less visible than the discourses on prostitutes. Based on this fact, we have in this article studied a corpus that is narrow albeit particularly heterogeneous and consisting entirely of books written by prostitutes and sex workers. While recognizing, along with Gail Pheterson and Paola Tabet, the obsolescence and arbitrariness of (the use of) terms such as “prostitute” and “prostitution”, we have tried to show that those different written discourses are systematically (en)framed. By describing the mechanisms of this (en)framing process (mystification, expurgation, censorship, collaborative writing, editorial pretexts) in different publishing contexts, we have claimed that it operates at the same time as enhancement and control of the concerned discourses. We have further weighed, from a gender point of view, the discursive high-jacking and disqualification – on an ideological as well as esthetic level – undergone by the authors we have studied. The ongoing struggle of certain sex workers / authors to get rid of (en)framing procedures and their pressing need for discursive autonomy reveal the necessity to carry on this examination on a broader spectrum.
- Les discours des prostitué.e.s jouissent de beaucoup moins de visibilité que les discours sur les prostitué.e.s. Partant de ce principe, nous avons dans notre article étudié un corpus restreint mais particulièrement hétérogène, constitué de livres écrits par des prostitué.e.s et des travailleur.se.s du sexe. Tout en reconnaissant, avec Gail Pheterson et Paola Tabet, l'arbitraire et l'obsolescence (de l'emploi) de termes tels que « prostituée » et « prostitution », nous avons tenté de montrer que ces différents discours écrits font systématiquement l'objet d'un encadrement. En décrivant les mécanismes de ce processus d'encadrement (mystification, expurgation, censure, écriture à quatre mains, paratextes éditoriaux) dans différents contextes d'édition, nous avons fait l'hypothèse que celui-ci opère à la fois en tant que mise en valeur et mise sous contrôle des discours concernés. Nous nous sommes en outre penchés, au prisme du genre, sur l'instrumentalisation et la disqualification discursives, idéologiques et même esthétiques subies par les auteur.es étudié.e.s. La volonté grandissante de certain.e.s travailleur.se.s du sexe / auteur.e.s de secouer le carcan de cet encadrement et leur besoin impérieux d'autonomie discursive nous indique la nécessité de poursuivre cet examen dans un cadre plus large. The discourses of prostitutes are far less visible than the discourses on prostitutes. Based on this fact, we have in this article studied a corpus that is narrow albeit particularly heterogenous and consisting entirely of books written by prostitutes and sex workers. While recognizing, along with Gail Pheterson and Paola Tabet, the obsolescence and arbitrariness of (the use of) terms such as “prostitute” and “prostitution”, we have tried to show that those different written discourses are systematically (en)framed. By describing the mechanisms of this (en)framing process (mystification, expurgation, censorship, collaborative writing, editorial paratexts) in different publishing contexts, we have claimed that it operates at the same time as enhancement and control of the concerned discourses. We have further weighed, from a gender point of view, the discursive high-jacking and disqualification – on an ideological as well as esthetic level – undergone by the authors we have studied. The ongoing struggle of certain sex workers / authors to get rid of (en)framing procedures and their pressing need for discursive autonomy reveal the necessity to carry on this examination on a broader spectrum.
Date
- 2015-05-15
Type
- info:eu-repo/semantics/article
- info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Format
- application/pdf
Identifier
10.13125/2039-6597/1394