Carnal Resonance: Affect and Online Pornography

Preface

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 pornography 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 several 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 academia 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 diversity 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 discussions 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 phenomena 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 sophisticated comments throughout. In addition, I would especially like to thank Nancy Baym, Megan Boler, Mia Consalvo, Jillana Enteen, Charles Ess, Sal [3.144.97.189] Project MUSE (2024-04-24 05:08 GMT...