A cross-posting from PERFORM .... A.
Records of Early English Drama/ Victoria College/ 150 Charles Street W
Toronto Ontario Canada
Phone (416) 585-4504/FAX (416) [log in to unmask]
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed.html => REED's home page
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed-l.html => REED-L's home page
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/stage.html => our theatre resource page
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/archive.html => library & archives page
---------- Forwarded message ----------
THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE MIDDLE AGES (SSHMA)
IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE
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****** QUEER MIDDLE AGES ******
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****** NOVEMBER 5-7, 1998 ******
~~~~~~ THE GRADUATE CENTER ~~~~~~
****** CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK (CUNY) ******
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
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AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE ENDORSED BY THE CENTER FOR LESBIAN AND
GAY STUDIES (CLAGS), CUNY
This conference is dedicated to "queering" the Middle Ages: to the
pursuit of methodologies of interpretation and documentation
of the same-sex choices of women and men who resisted heteronormativity in
their sexual and affective bonds during the period we have come to call
the "Middle Ages." We seek to expand knowledge of resistance to compulsory
heterosexuality in a wide range of the globe's cultural areas,
such as the Arab and Islamic worlds, China, and the pre-colonial
Americas. We understand "middle ages" to be a flexible, not
prescriptive term, which can begin, depending on the area under
conideration, as early as the 4th century CE and end as late as the
end of the 16th century CE.
The conference aims to articulate the reasons why
the "Middle Ages" have remained separate from far-reaching
inquiries in lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender studies. While queer
studies have made significant impact in the study of the early modern
period, the Middle Ages have only sporadically been the object
of "queering," as well as documenting, lives shaped by same-sex desire.
This period plays a potentially critical role in current debates over the
historical parameters of the construction of homosexuality,
offering counterpoint to theories which deny the possibility
of its existence before the modern age. The particularities
of same-sex, non-heteronormative behaviors in the Middle Ages also
provide rich material for a better understanding of many aspects of
gendered identities.
METHODOLOGY AND CRITICAL PRACTICE
WE ANTICIPATE TWO CATEGORIES OF PANELS:
(1) Approaching the Middle Ages through theoretically and methodologically
-oriented sessions, including, but not limited to, the relation of queer
theory to feminist theory; the impact of cultural studies; the role of the
disciplines in queering the Middle Ages (in fields such as religious
studies, art history, sociology, for example); the relation of lesbian
studies to the study of male homosexuality; pedagogy and teaching
"queerly"; and archival resources and methods of inquiry.
(2) Sessions dedicated to discrete points of scholarly
investigation as well as central questions in the field of
medieval studies, for which queer interpretations are being
proposed. For example: devotional material; queer Chaucer;
issues of representation; visual cultures; lesbian lives; identities;
queerness and subjectivity; nationhood and homophobia; misogyny
and female sexuality; western constructions of eastern sexuality as queer;
pre-colonial America; and "passions of the cut sleeve."
PRESENT INQUIRIES SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE CONFERENCE CO-CONVENERS:
Francesca Canade Sautman Steven Kruger
Departments of French & Women's Studies Department of English
Hunter College and Queens College and
CUNY Graduate Center CUNY Graduate Center
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A FORMAL CALL FOR PAPERS IS FORTHCOMING
