Harder than fiction: the stylistic model of gonzo pornography

This article reads gonzo pornography as a stylistic model, in order to go beyond current interpretations that see it as either a genre merely based on degrading sexual practices or a filmmaking form primarily based on the active role of the camera. Drawing on theoretical notions derived from cinema and media studies, we analyze the stylistic model of gonzo according to four different (albeit interrelated) dimensions: representative/performative; technical/expressive; enunciative/communicative; and semio-pragmatic. This integrated approach allows us to account for the semiotic and aesthetic complexity of gonzo pornography, as well as for its specificity