CFP: Tragedy Queered

CFP: International conference at the University of Reading, 6-7 July 2023.

Tragedy Queered

Ancient Greece and Rome have long had a strong impact on LGBTQI+ identities, politics and culture. From by-words for homosexuality such as ‘Greek love’, to Taylor Mac’s queer retelling of Socrates’ death in The Hang (2022), passing through trans Tiresias(es), lesbian feminist furies, the Lambda as queer symbol, non-binary Antigones, tunic-clad pornotopias or languid Sebastianic bodies, Greece and Rome have appeared to LGBTQI+ thought, culture and politics as a necessary and useful utopia, refuge, framework and origin.

As an extension and complement to the Queer Tragedy project, funded by the British Academy and hosted by the University of Reading, the conference Tragedy Queered wishes to explore the specific impact of Graeco-Roman tragedy on queer culture. The aim of the conference is to create a more focused understanding of the outcomes, benefits, stimulations and challenges of using Greek and Roman tragedy as a framework, channel and provocation in diverse queer cultural contexts and media. The importance of Graeco-Roman tragedy to queer culture is evident, for example, in the filmic retellings of Oedipus in Pasolini and Toshio Matsumoto’s filmographies, in Butler’s queer(ing/ed) Antigone, in Dionysian same-sex kisses on stage, in Cassils’ melting Tiresias, in Trajal Harrel’s choreographing Antigone Sr or in the appearances of Orestes and Pylades in social media. This Call for Papers invites contributions that will explore the appearance, uses and utilities of Greek and Roman tragic plays (including fragmentary), their plots and/or characters to queer culture broadly defined, including, but not constrained to: queer film and screen, thought, written/spoken word, theatre, performance, visual arts, dance, online media, fan-fiction and music. Diverse formats and methodologies of intervention and participation in the conference are welcome.

Particularly appealing will be all contributions focusing on post-1969 queer culture and subjects as-yet academically unexplored, but other contributions will be also very welcome. Possible, although not exhaustive, themes are:

• Tragedic intellectual frameworks, illustrations or case studies in queer theory and thought.

• Queer rewritings/retellings of tragedy in diverse cultural media.

• Queer inter-/para-textualities or intermediality of tragedy.

• Tragedic structures in queer drama and fiction.

• Queer erotics of tragedy.

• The role of Graeco-Roman tragedy in the consolidation or contestation of intersectional normativities of race, gender, sexuality, bodies and class (including homonormativity).

• The translation of tragedy to literary and non-literary media.

• LGBTQI+ receptions of tragedy beyond anglophone and/or Western countries.

• Queering scholarships of Graeco-Roman tragedy.

• Historical and geographical differences in queer receptions of Greek and Roman tragedy.

The deadline for proposals is the 29^th of January 2023. Proposals should consist of a title and a 300-word abstract sent to o.a.baldwin@reading.ac.uk. Please include email address in the proposal. The conference has been envisaged as consisting of 20-minute papers (or other contributions). If you wish to propose a different length of time or mode of participation, please state this clearly in the proposal. The language of the conference will be English, but accommodations can be made for other languages. Although the conference will have a hybrid format, speakers are strongly encouraged to attend in person. The intended date for notifying acceptance will be the 15^th of February, when details of registration and logistics will also be communicated.