Queer Manifestations Literature, History, Theory, Culture

A one day conference at the University of Chester, Saturday 26th June 2010

This interdisciplinary one-day conference seeks to explore the burgeoning field of queer studies, with particular emphasis on its impact upon literary histories, theories, and cultures. How influential is heteronormativity in culture today, or in the past? Is it true, as Sharon Marcus claims, that ‘queer theory often accentuates the subversive
dimensions of lesbian, gay, and transgender acts and identities’? Do readers force heteronormative readings onto queer texts, or vice versa? Must literary readings always
focus upon ‘secrecy, shame, oppression, and transgression’? What has it meant to be ‘in’ or ‘out’ of the literary closet?

Past Conferences:

Holocaust Representations Since 1975 conference

 

This exciting one-day conference addresses recent developments in Holocaust representation across a range of disciplines. More than 60 years after the end of WWII, how are writers, filmmakers, curators, historians and others representing the Holocaust? What claims to authenticity can such representations make, and what are the ethical and aesthetic risks they run? This conference will attempt to address these and related questions.

The Other Nineteenth Century conference

 

This interdisciplinary conference will explore all aspects of otherness in
nineteenth-century literature and culture. How was otherness represented in the
nineteenth century? What attempts were made to classify otherness within medical, scientific and imperialistic discourses?