Pornography and Seriality

Repetition and seriality are inherent in pornography and is constitutive for its functionality as a film genre, an industry, and an area of gender studies. By linking the styles of the genre to processes of serial production, consumption, and discussion, Schaschek questions the dominant assumptions about pornography and the stability of the genre.

"In a surprising and astute move, Sarah Schaschek uses the most 'boring' aspects of pornography - its repetitions of the same sex acts, gestures, and affects - as a way to better understand the repetitions, seemingly the same, but always with a slight difference, of seriality itself. Thinking about pornography through the lens of seriality, Schaschek reminds us that the essence of all mass cultural production adheres to rhythmic processes of copying and reproduction." - Linda Williams, author of Hard Core: Power, Pleasure and the Frenzy of the Visible (1989/1999) and Porn Studies (2004)

"Theoretically sophisticated and carefully researched, Pornography and Seriality: The Culture of Producing Pleasure explores the particularity and appeal of pornography. It opens new analytical ground in the yet emergent field of porn studies and is quintessential reading for anyone interested in porn as a media genre, the seriality of popular culture, or the mediated depictions of gender and bodily pleasure." - Susanna Paasonen, Professor of Media Studies, University of Turku, Finland, author of Carnal Resonance: Affect and Online Pornography, and editor of Pornification: Sex and Sexuality in Media Culture

"Discussions of pornography that focus on actual porn and take it seriously are still very far and few between. This confident, original, and thoughtful book is a very welcome addition to the study of pornography. It explores the question of what we mean by serialitymore broadly, and it will be of interest to academics working in Porn Studies and generally in Media, Film, and Cultural Studies." - Feona Attwood, Professor of Cultural Studies, Communication, and Media, Middlesex University, UK, and

editor of Porn.com: Making Sense of Online Pornography

Sarah Schaschek is Adjunct Professor of Film History at the American Institute for Foreign Studies in Berlin, Germany.