Henrik Olesen's Timely Excavation of Gay Activist and Queer Histories (original) (raw)
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The Anarchy of Queer: rethinking poststructuralist possibilities and the politics of sexuality
Queer, as a tradition of theory and practice (and increasingly a marketing tool), faces serious criticism in terms of its political viability and transformative potential. First, queer politics have been criticised, especially by Marxist and materialist feminists, for promoting individualistic sexual transgression that is consistent with capitalism. Second, queer theory has been charged with monopolising sexuality as its domain of study and thus neglecting feminist theories of sexuality and displacing the importance of gender. Third, queer politics is at risk of maintaining a degree of homocentrism if built around the lesbian and gay identities it had sought to deconstruct. And finally, queer stands accused of romanticising textual deconstruction and a cultural politics of knowledge to the neglect of institutional and material engagement. This paper argues that these criticisms can largely be addressed through a return to the anarchistic genealogical roots of queer - lesbian feminism, direct action & poststructuralism. Consistently anarchist queer projects might then prioritise prefiguration over transgression, horizontal networks over territorialisation, a practical politics of difference over a return to identity, and a tradition of radically egalitarian political action (including thought) which embraces cultural, material, institutional and individual transformation.
A discussion on queer diasporic aesthetics, springerin, Issue 3/2023, Queer Postsocialist
springerin, 2023
How can the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been going on for over a year and a half now, be confronted in an artistic-activist way? What cultural networks, in terms of transnational solidarity, but also concrete assistance, have formed in this regard? And what lessons can be learned from the history of post-socialist developments, i.e. the decades since the collapse of state-communist systems in the former East, for the construction of such new solidarity networks? Questions like these form the background of the Queer Postsocialist issue, which attempts to expand the topic addressed in several directions. The title, especially in relation to the current war situation, may at first seem perplexing. But it is precisely in this – the linking of post-socialism, queerness, and, it should be added: various diasporas – that the promise of a more comprehensive and, at present, perhaps all the more necessary articulation of community lies. It was also our concern to not merely depict expressions of solidarity coming from outside, but rather approaches that have been involved in such a construction in the region itself for some time: Initiatives and practices that have begun to emerge in the post-communist space, often unnoticed by a larger public. For this reason, we invited Masha Godovannaya, an artist and activist who has dedicated herself to precisely these agendas, as a guest editor to design the thematic section of this issue with us. The starting point was to make the “aesthetic practices of the queer diaspora” (a term coined by gender studies professor Gayatri Gopinath) usable for the current situation and activating the potentials inherent therein in the face of hostile threats. One of the leitmotifs was the extent to which affinities and reciprocities can be promoted in the unifying, but at the same time very differentiated framework of post-socialist spaces. At the same time, the question is to be explored to what extent specific treatments of queerness and diaspora motifs within such a framework contain a utopian political promise, indeed to what extent a hope for alternative social worlds is inherent therein. Can, as Godovannaya asks, “trust, respect, affection, care, intimacy, and desire be built between queer and war-affected people across national borders”? Moreover, what differently situated life-worlds and forms of community could consequently emerge– forms that resist the maxims of time and reality “in times of war and global turmoil”? The contributions to this issue take on the task of tackling these complex questions. Based on their own practice, the artist duo Maggessi/Morusiewicz addresses the problem of what aesthetic registers can be used to “queer” artistic research. Using “wormholes”, methodological devices that ensure leaps in space and time within their cinematic works, the two artists present their view of a new politics of archives. The Freefilmers collective has created an archive like such, especially concerning the recent history of the now almost completely destroyed city of Mariupol where they were originally based. In the multi-perspective tableau of conversations included here, the members reflect on the status and prospects of their film projects, which are as dedicated to documenting the downright unspeakable as they are to reminiscing about fleeting moments of happiness. Dijana Jelača and Tonči Kranjčević Batalić set contemporary counterpoints to the current catastrophic situation in their contributions. Jelača recapitulates the utopian dimension that often shines through in memories of former Yugoslavia and makes this point with examples from the film and performance field. In his case study of the collective queerANarchive (Split), which he co-founded, Kranjčević Batalić presents the cornerstones and trajectories of a decidedly counter-hegemonic project – evidence of how free spaces can be created in the midst of a homophobic majority culture. Such free spaces, in terms of a more general aesthetic of queer diasporas, are discussed by Katharina Wiedlack and Anna T. on the basis of motifs from, among others, science fiction, in which non-normative gender and social orders are often secretly at work. Such non-normative orders come to bear in a number of art projects presented here. The arc spans – with different aesthetic accents – from the cinematic investigation of queer science fiction following the writer Samuel R. Delany (Marko Gutić Mižimakov) to abstract-experimental approaches to “anarchafeminist” coffee divinations (Işıl Karataş) and the filmic treatment of an attack on the queer Latinx community in Florida (Sofía Gallisá Muriente and Natalia Lassalle-Morillo). Complementing these are spotlights on the post-Soviet space with short features on works from Central Asia and the Caucasus (Ruthie Jenrbekova and Maria Vilkovisky) and a reflection on a film project from St. Petersburg (L. Y.) that is overshadowed by the effects of Russia's grim war reality. What connects all the contributions is the search for modes of affective and at the same time pluralist connectedness. The issue Queer Postsocialist puts a whole range of such modes of interconnectedness up for discussion – hoping to spark moments of hope and solidarity in times of war.
Queer Modernism(s) II: Intersectional Identities (12-13 April 2018, University of Oxford) - CFP
Call for Papers ‘Reed / slashed and torn / but doubly rich’ – H.D. After the resounding success of the first Queer Modernism(s) conference in 2017, we are excited to announce the CfP for Queer Modernism(s) II: Intersectional Identities, set to be held on 12-13 April 2018 at the University of Oxford. Queer Modernism(s) II is an interdisciplinary, international conference exploring the place of queer identity in modernist art, literature, and culture, with an emphasis on intersecting identities. Panellists are invited to question, discuss, and interrogate the social, sexual, romantic, artistic, affective, legal and textual relationship between queer identity and modernity. The CfP closes 18 December 2017. Decisions will be made in early January. We are delighted to announce that our Keynotes will be Dr. Sandeep Parmar (University of Liverpool) and Dr. Jana Funke (University of Exeter). Dr. Parmar is a BBC New Generation thinker, and has published widely on women’s literature in the 20th century, especially lesser known and non-canonical women. Dr. Funke is a Senior Lecturer in Medical Humanities in the English Department at the University of Exeter and a Wellcome Trust Investigator. Her research cuts across modernist studies, the history of sexuality and the history of science. She has published on modernist women’s writing, the history of sexual science and queer literature and history. We are further thrilled to announce that Queer Modernism(s) II will include a workshop on ‘Queer Historiography and Heritage’ run by Heather Green. Heather is a librarian, curator, and archivist who has worked extensively on figures such as E.M. Forster, D.H. Lawrence, and Lord Byron. ________________________________________ The early twentieth century saw sweeping changes in legislature, politics, and lifestyle for queer people. More than ever, LGBTQ+ citizens faced penal repercussions for their behaviour, as well as public scrutiny. In 1895, art collided with the judicial system as the trial of Oscar Wilde scandalised the press, succeeded by censorship against the likes of Radclyffe Hall and Federico García Lorca. At the same time, queerness became a political issue. Throughout the 1900s, governments codified and legislated sex work, same-sex relations, queer bodies, and women’s reproductive rights. After the outbreak of war in 1914, there were global concerns that homosexuality was a disease, spreading through the dug-outs like tuberculosis. The New Woman sparked a wave of lesbian panic, as feminine ideals were cast aside in favour of driving, smoking and dancing. Political upheaval throughout the world saw queer rights used as a bargaining tool as new governments came to power. In the same period however, LGBTQ+ citizens were establishing sites of resistance against social norms and state intervention. The Hirschfeld Institute was set up as a means of studying non-normative sexual behaviour and gender identity, pushing for the German government to legalise same-sex acts between men as they had in South America. Around the corner boy-bars flourished in Berlin, notoriously outrageous and cherished by figures of the silver screen. In Paris, Gertrude Stein and Natalie Clifford Barney set up influential salons, whilst The Rocky Twins made their debut performance as The Dolly Sisters. Across the pond, Gladys Bentley crooned about women, while the infamous ball scene began to lay its roots. Early queer theory rippled through both the arts and science. Myriad new terminology appeared, ‘cures’ for inversion came to light, Havelock Ellis published his theories of sexuality, sex reassignment was pioneered in Russia and Freud played analyst to many modernists. Writers and artists from Larsen to Forster to McKay to Bryher to Thurman to Tatsumi to Isherwood to Baker explored queer themes implicitly and explicitly within their work, many of which remain radical today. Nevertheless, sexuality and modernity are not neatly packaged. Queerness is explored, troubled, empowered, frustrated, and intrumentalised by illness, class, nationality, race, work, disability, citzenship, gender, technology, language, age, religion and countless other forms of identity. One need only look to Bloomsbury, Cairo, Harlem, the Left Bank or Tokyo to be confronted by innumerable examples of these. Queer Modernism(s) II seeks to unpackage such identities through panel discussion, roundtables, and seminars. The conference invites discussion of the ways in which modernists negotiate the concept of queerness within their work, with particular attention to intersectional identities. Topics may include, but are not limited to: • Friendships, Romances, Patronage • Camp • Life-writing and Biography • The Intersection of Sexuality and Race, Class, Gender and/or Disability • Psychology and Sexology • Early / Late / New Modernism(s) • Sapphisms • Pride • Queer Spaces / Sites of Resistance • Sex Work • Queer Culture • Religions and Spirituality • Femininities / Masculinities • Drag • Formal and Aesthetic Responses to Queerness • Kink • Civil Rights and Legal Standing • Ball Culture • The Death Drive and Pleasure Principle • Shame • Trans and Non-Binary Identities • Queer Historiographies / Queer Geographies / Queer Linguistics • Sexual Deviance and Inversion • Femme and Butch Presentation • Pornography • (B)identities • Rumours, Gossip and Slander • Ecologies ________________________________________ Papers Individual papers should be fifteen minutes in length. To apply, please send an abstract of no more than 500 words to queermodernism@gmail.com as well as a brief biography of no more than 200 words. Panels Panel presentations should be forty-five minutes in length. To apply, please send an abstract of no more than 800 words to queermodernism@gmail.com as well as a brief biography of no more than 200 words per person. Submissions are open to all MA and PhD students, as well as ECRs and academics.
In recent years feminist philosophers and queer theorists have elaborated various concepts to deconstruct gender, sexual, bodily, racial and national identities as well as different options to rethink multiplicity. Nevertheless all these deconstructed and multiple “identities” are still at risk to be exploited even by feminist and queer politics. The political goal of feminists e.g. to free women from their suffering often goes hand in hand with racist and islamophobic ideas and some queer organizations are continually sympathizing with nationalistic ideas while arguing for gay and lesbian rights as Judith Butler has pointed out in her speech at CSD 2010 in Berlin. In our paper we would like to focus on the socio-cultural multiplicity of our time understanding it particularly as a chance. Every instrumentalization of a social, cultural or gendered group, even used as a tool for resistance and in the purpose of e.g. freeing women, establishes again a hegemonial perspective and identity. We understand resistance legitimated through the reference to one suffering group not as an appropriate way to radically deconstruct normative conceptions within societies. Decentering resistance and desidentifying (a term used by Judith Butler) with hegemonial groups thus becomes a central ethical question for queer-feminist movements and politics. It is an important aspect of those queer-feminist perceptions that they refuse to think only one critical point as starting point for social change. In contrast resistance can be thought in terms of a queer-anarchist project, distinguished from more or less classical concepts of philosophical anarchy through the adaption of the deconstruction of the subject, such as Jacques Derridas image of an “arché without archonts” e.g. expresses it. Thinking a queer arché means thinking a force that may not fully be instrumentalized and subordinated, a force that remains intangible: accepting the living as something eluding: anarchy of becoming. In our paper we would like to think and develop a perception of feminist and queer anarchy that is based upon the ontological openness of spaces being the condition for bodies of becoming. Spaces therefore are not exclusive geometrical entities, nor terminated and defined places. Spaces grow, expand and run riot like the living itself. Spaces are open for bodies and bodies are open (spaces) for bodies to come. Following Luce Irigarays rethinking of Aristotle on place and interval we would like to think queer-feminist anarchy as a project that understands social change and feminist political intervention as new forms of border-politics, which do not exclude, haunt and kill others, but create spaces of openness, of being with, of being in contact – open porous.