Classical Antiquity and LGBTQ Movements: Adventures of/in the Archives
May 29, 17.00 (GMT)
Online (CES, Coimbra)
Discussant: Paola Bacchetta, University of California, Berkeley
Moderator: Júlia Garraio, CES, Coimbra
This webinar focuses on the position of classical antiquity in contemporary lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) historiographies. Research has shown that the ideal of classical antiquity as racialised heritage has been deployed— historically and in the present—to support and reinforce the distinctiveness and superiority of the West over other cultural groups. It has thus legitimated Western colonial practices, cultural hegemony, and civilising mission. However, little attention has been paid to LGBTQ movements and the classical discourses, images, symbols, and representations they draw on.
Acknowledging historiography as a political practice, Angeliki Sifaki discussed the entanglements of sexual politics with issues of race and nationalism in the case of LGBTQ movements in Greece, the UK, and the US. She also presented a sample of the material she has gathered so far from archives in London (Hall-Carpenter Archive and Bishopsgate Institute’s Special Collections and Archives) and Los Angeles (ONE Archives at the USC Libraries and June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives).
