Queer: Arts, History, Theory

3 units

The term “queer” has come into greater circulation over the past two decades, but it has a longer history. Over the course of the 20th century, queer networks have enacted distinct new gendered, interpersonal, communal, and expressive forms, in both private and public arenas. As a term that resists alignment with specific identity categories, queer has the potential to unsettle not only the borders of identity but the grounds on which such identities are secured. The ‘queering’ of the humanities has extended beyond studies of sexuality and gender, and productively undermined the essentialisms that still linger in our understanding of human potential. Queer is also a lens through which to explore the cultural, social, and political processes of “normalization.” Using this lens the seminar offers a space to question and map the imprisoning impact of normativity on our collective possibilities. We’ll examine its impact on how Art history and other fields have been constructed as a discipline. The seminar toggles between histories of 20th century queer networks, and essays that theorize their artistic, social, and political impact, from redefining boundaries between public and private to strategies of subversion; the impact of “queer” on the politics of identity and political recognition; and queer performance culture across the 20th century.