“Queer is the deferal of meaning, the resistance to ascription and to fixation of identity.” —Kathryn Bond Stockton
In this seminar, we will develop Queer Theory as a lens to explore a variety of British fictional media. We will mostly look at contemporary media but we will consider them with an eye to the historical specificity of public discourses on (sexual) deviance and normality in Britain since (at least) the Victorian nineteenth century.
The seminar has three parts:
I will assume that participants have basic knowledge of critical cultural theory, especially feminist theory and gender theory, but I will not expect previous knowledge of queer theory. Interested BA students who don’t shy away from the high workload of this MA class are very welcome to attend (they cannot earn credit points, though)!
Required reading
Buy the following works (if you buy digital versions, make sure you have a means to bring them to class and to mark up the texts or make margin comments):
We will discuss Orlando in session 5 (14 May), Written on the Body in session 6 (28 May), and Twelfth Night in session 7 (4 Jun), so you’ll need to have finished them by these dates; but you might consider reading the two novels before classes start. Reading Twelfth Night without instructions (which I will provide in the seminar) will be difficult for most of you – but there is a brilliant stage adaptation by Tim Carroll (premiered at The Globe in 2013) which you might want to watch as preparation (available on DVD in the library).
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The binding module descriptions contain further information, including specifications on the "types of assignments" students need to complete. In cases where a module description mentions more than one kind of assignment, the respective member of the teaching staff will decide which task(s) they assign the students.
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Geschlechterforschung in der Lehre |
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