A whole range of references to music is scattered throughout the copious body of Slavoj Žižek’s works, covering a broad array of musical genres, styles and epochs stretching from Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to the music of such bands as Laibach and Rammstein or a phenomenon like the Gangnam style. Žižek has also contributed more substantial works on Schumann (in The Plague of Fantasies 1997), Wagner (Opera’s Second Death 2002, together with Mladen Dolar) and more recently on Schönberg (in Absolute Recoil 2014). But how have Žižek’s reflections on music been received within the academic and non-academic world, and by whom?

The IJZS intends to release a special issue on the topic of Žižek and music, thus offering a first forum for all those who working in music-related fields who have adopted Žižek’s theories for reflecting about music. The goal is to approach the subject from a broad range of different perspectives, not only by covering the fields of classical, pop, jazz and experimental music, but also by bringing together philosophers, musicologists and scholars from the field of sound studies as well as composers, dramaturges and opera producers. This special issue is intended to stimulate a truly interdisciplinary and multi-faceted dialogue, offering a starting point for a fruitful discussion on music from a fresh perspective.

The IJSZ encourages original contributions on a number of topics that may include, but are not limited to:
- The use of Žižek’s philosophy to investigate different musical phenomena from classic to jazz, from pop to rock, heavy metal and experimental in aesthetic and/or historical terms.
- Contextualization of Žižek’s music-related reflections within current aesthetic and theoretical debates (also in the form of a book review or review essay)
- Reception of Žižek’s work within the concrete artistic musical field (composers, songwriters, dramaturges, etc.)


Submission Requirements
The language of this special issue is English.
- Articles: Prospective articles should be in the range of 6,000 to 8,000 words, accompanied by an abstract of no more than 200 words.
- Book Reviews and Review Essays: Prospective book reviews should be in the range of 1,000 to 2,000 words. Review essays should be in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 words.

All submissions (including book reviews and review essays) should be prepared for blind review, therefore please attach an additional document with the following information:
- Your name, email address, institutional affiliation and discipline of study/research.
- The type of submission (article, book review, review essay).
- Your submission’s title.
- A short CV (max. 180 words).
Please be careful not to include this information in the body of your submission.


Submission format and style
Please send each document (submission + personal information) as a separate file and in both .pdf and .doc formats.
As for the style, please consult the author guidelines of the IJZS under:
http://zizekstudies.org/index.php/ijzs/about/submissions#authorGuidelines


Deadline and contact
The special issue will be edited by Rex Butler (University of Queensland) and Mauro Fosco Bertola (Heidelberg University). The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2015. Intending authors are strongly encouraged to contact the editors before this date with a short outline of the proposed piece.
The e-mail address for your submissions, and for any questions or correspondence, is mauro.bertola@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de.