Queer Theory has become an increasingly prominent area within Gender Studies since the 1990s. Its main focus has been the deconstruction of the binary gender system and heteronormativity as well as a trenchant critique of all kinds of identity politics and identitarian logics. Queer has emerged as a critical force that undermines normative structures and explores and foregrounds those aspects which are excluded by such structures. After two decades, queer has undergone a number of modifications and repositionings, boundary-crossings and redrawings of boundaries itself. In this course we will retrace some of the major positions in Queer Theory (e.g. Judith Butler, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Halberstam, José Esteban Munoz). A special focus will be on the productivity of Queer Theory for literary studies in terms of queer readings of literary texts. Recommended introductory reading: Nikki Sullivan, A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory (2003) Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Epistemology of the Closet (1990) A Reader containing further material will be made available at the beginning of the semester. N.B.: Ten places are reserved for students of the Gender Studies MA. All participants also need to register via e-mail: eveline.kilian@rz.hu-berlin.de !! |
