From the Homosexual Front to Homonationalism:
Queer Critique in France before and after (?) Queer Theory
Du Front Homosexuel à l’ homonationalisme :
la critique queer en France avant et après (?) la théorie queer
KING’S COLLEGE, LONDON (ROOM K2.31) SATURDAY MAY 17, 2014
Long before queer theory was invented in California, Paris experienced its own revolutionary moment of radical homosexual critique, centered around the activism of the fabled FHAR (Front Homosexuel d’Action Révolutionnaire) and the seminal, Ur-Queer publication that was Hocquenghem’s Le Désir homosexuel. Some forty years hence, and with Hocquenghem becoming progressively more lionized in Anglo-American queer contexts, how does the current French queer ‘milieu’ position itself with regard to its pre-history? This question becomes especially pertinent since the advent and propagation of the notion of homonationalism, first established by Jasbir Puar in the US context, has reached queer France and may yet cause (if it is not already causing) far-reaching reverberations. In a national/cultural context where Universalism looms large over identity politics and over queer critique, is the intersection between race, class and sexuality likely to boost the queer struggle? Or has a deterritorialised queer energy effectively cancelled out the radical yet suspect past, and thus looped the loop of Universalism and its resistance?
This is the context for the workshop on May 17, at King’s College, London, which will have two autonomous yet interconnected parts. The morning is dedicated to a historical and critical consideration of the ‘pre-historical’ queer moment of the revolutionary seventies, including presentations on the FHAR and Hocquenghem, as well as a rare opportunity to watch a little-seen documentary film on the FHAR, produced by Carole Roussopoulos. In the afternoon, French queer thinkers and activists of the present day reflect on the past and present of queer critique in France, and attempt, in particular, to situate current work in relation to homonationalism and related ideas – with Jasbir Puar herself attending and responding to presentations.
PROGRAMME
9.30 Coffee and Registration
10.00 Welcome/Opening Remarks (Hector Kollias-KCL)
10.10 Dan Callwood (QM): Le corps désirant se lève: locating the radicalism of France’s FHAR
10.30 Jason Hartford (Stirling): Sex, Ecology, Demons – what did essentialism ever do to Guy Hocquenghem?
10.50 Questions
11.10 Coffee break
11.30 Ros Murray (QM): Between the Lines – the FHAR on Video
11.50 UK Première of Le FHAR, (1971) directed by Carole Roussopoulos, followed by questions/debate
13.00 Lunch break
14.00 Hector Kollias (KCL): The Garters under the Uniform: On French Queer Ambivalence, then and now
14.20 Camille Robcis (Cornell): Race and Reproduction in the French Gay Marriage Debates
14.40 Questions
15.00 Joint Keynote Session – Maxime Cervulle (Paris VIII/CEMTI) & Marco Dell’Omodarme (Paris I/Lille III): New Queer Fronts after the Same-Sex Marriage Debate in France, followed by questions
16.15 Coffee break
16.40 Response(s) by Jasbir Puar (Rutgers)
17.10 Questions and Final Debate
17.45 Close
The workshop is open to all, but spaces are limited. Please contact [log in to unmask] to pre-register.
The workshop forms part of the AHRC-funded project ‘Queer Theory in France.’ For more information on the project, please visit: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/french/research/queertheory/
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