Interdisciplinary Pornography Research

• Applicant: Dr. Leonie Zilch
• Subject Area: Theatre and Media Studies
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 568648320

The aim of the proposed DFG research network "Interdisciplinary Pornography Research" is to establish pornography research as an interdisciplinary field of research in the D-A-CH region. The background is that there is a concerning discrepancy between the everydayness of pornography and the academically proven knowledge about it. The taboo of talking about pornography is not only evident in everyday life, but also in the marginalization of the field of research. Research on pornography takes place only sporadically and mainly in isolated disciplines. Pornography is located at the intersection of media, audiovisual, aesthetic, bodily, gender, cultural, legal, educational, health, psychological, sexological and economic discourses - in short, pornography is always interdisciplinary. The DFG research network has set itself the task of creating a research matrix that reveals gaps and provides impetus for research into these desiderata. Based on a contouring and structuring of the research field, subject-specific expertise, an intersectional orientation, boundaries and relations will be illuminated and research gaps for further joint research projects will be identified.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Co-Investigator: Professorin Dr. Friederike Nastold