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SUMMARY:LGBTQ+ History Month Panel: New Research in Queer Studies - Syeda 
 Ali\, Ferdinando Cocco\, Connor Johnston\, Aaron Muldoon\, Marisa Tangeman
DTSTART:20240221T190000Z
DTEND:20240221T203000Z
UID:TALK212506@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:121051
DESCRIPTION:Celebrate LGBTQ+ History month at this lively discussion of ne
 w research in Queer Studies\, featuring informal presentations by five Wol
 fson College postgraduates speaking on the following topics:\n\n* *Syeda A
 li (PhD\, History)\,  Contesting memories: Cultural representation of Sect
 ion 28.* The stories we tell about our histories and ourselves are importa
 nt: Section 28 signifies a culturally iconic moment within queer communiti
 es\, and has begun to receive increased popular attention. In this present
 ation\, I deconstruct the basis for some of the widely held beliefs about 
 Section 28\, and propose the need to mainstream voices which have\, until 
 now\, remained marginalised in the Section 28 discourse.\n\n* *Ferdinando 
 Cocco (PhD\, Film and Screen Media Studies)\, 'Unnatural Vitalism': Toward
 s a Queer Theory of Animation.* What does the queer study of animation loo
 k like? Due to its close association with childhood\, Western animation ha
 s often seemed to serve the educational work of heteronormativity\, leavin
 g behind a canon with little to no example of transparent queer representa
 tion. In this brief presentation\, I capitalize on the privileged relation
 ship the animated medium is often said to maintain with the so-called “q
 uestion of life\,” to propose an ontological argument that surpasses the
  limiting frameworks of representation by seeking queerness not in the rea
 lm of representation but in the realm of medium specificity. What transpir
 es is a partial overview of a road map for a queer theory of animation as 
 well as for a revisionist history of queerness in the canon of Western ani
 mation. \n\n* *Connor Johnston (MPhil\, English)\,  Self-Harm and Agency i
 n The Well of Loneliness.* This project seeks to recuperate the darker par
 ts of queer history\, analysing the unusual and often upsetting forms of a
 gency that were available in the early 20th century\, specifically explori
 ng self-harm as mediation\, ascesis and transference in Radclyffe Hall'e 1
 928 novel\, The Well of Loneliness.\n\n* *Aaron Muldoon (PhD\, Multi-Disci
 plinary Gender Studies)\, Queer Cultural Memory in Literature\, Film and T
 elevision since 1999.* What happens to our understanding of sexual identit
 y categories in the context of contemporary cultural production if we cons
 ider queerness as a genre? In this talk I want to propose that genre theor
 y emerges in the contemporary moment as a particularly appropriate way of 
 re-thinking queer culture and politics. With the proliferation of appearan
 ces of the category LGBTQ+ in locations like Amazon’s online bookstore (
 as well as brick and mortar bookstores) and streaming sites like Netflix\,
  Mubi and Prime Video\, we are witnessing one way in which identity catego
 ries are being increasingly consolidated in the cultural sphere. Thinking 
 about queerness and genre together offers a more nuanced way of working th
 rough what is often hastily summarised in terms of ‘assimilation’ or t
 he commodification of sexuality. It also brings into starker relief the ex
 tent to which the work of early queer theorists on troubling the coherence
  of the sexualised subject has been abandoned in the popular imaginary—a
 nd\, I would argue\, by academia—and the way in which celebrations of se
 xual identity are entangled in the vast and complex process of market segm
 entation.\n\n* *Marisa Tangeman (PhD\, Sociology)\, No Representation is B
 ad Representation: Deconstructing the Negative/Positive Binary in Bisexual
  Media Representation.* While there is a growing body of research on the w
 ay bisexuality is represented in popular media\, there is little published
  work on what bi+ audiences think about these representations. Research sh
 ows that bisexual people suffer from stigmatisation\, discrimination\, and
  poor mental health outcomes\, and many researchers partly tribute this to
  the general invisibility and negative depictions of bisexuality in mainst
 ream media. My research finds that while many media critics argue that “
 good” representations will have “good” effects and “bad” ones wi
 ll have “bad” effects\, bi+ participants all felt they were empowered 
 by and found pleasure in a wide variety of contradicting representations. 
 My research calls the binary of “negative” and “positive” bisexual
  representation into question.
LOCATION:Gatsby Room\, Wolfson College\, Cambridge\, UK\, CB3 9BB
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