Queer Aesthetics: Our Self-Indulgences, Our Selves

(4 Credits)

This course looks at the ways in which queer artists make brilliant use of maligned forms of queer aesthetics as self-expression and shared subcultural language. Drawing from the interdisciplinary field of Performance Studies, our seminar considers: why are genres of queer art seen as unacceptable according to societal norms? Genres surveyed include autobiography/memoir, confessional poetry, self-portraits, and solo performance, from early 20th century to the present in the U.S. We will reconsider dismissive criticisms of stereotypical queer artworks such as “self-indulgent,” “art for arts’ sake,” and “preaching to the choir,” in relation to the urgent value of such expressive opportunities for racialized and minoritized artists and audiences. We will contextual our survey of aesthetics with cultural history and reviews, in order to consider the ways in which taste is political and politicized: when is art dangerous or threatening, and when is it laughable or dismissed?