Événement

Unclouding the Rainbow in History!

Join us and Dr. Kisha G. Tracy & Danielle Girard
in this special pride discussion!

A common response to modern fiction and literature, especially any based on historical settings, that includes LGBTQIA+ people is that "they shouldn't be included" because "they didn't exist back then." This view is quite patently incorrect. LGBTQIA+ individuals have existed throughout history, and, in this talk, we will reveal this hidden past, particularly in the ancient and medieval eras. Taking a look at creative works, legal records, and various other accounts, we will counter the erroneous assertion that representation is in any way "inaccurate."

While the first half of this discussion will focus on LGBTQIA+ people hidden in history, the second portion will explore how and why LGBTQIA+ people have been historically shunned from popular genre fiction. This talk will explore how LGBTQIA+ people have been excluded from science fiction and fantasy genres and will explore important subcultures that have pushed for LGBTQIA representation within popular culture as well as those who have disrupted the hetero-canon to write their own.

The talk will celebrate the forbearers of cultural representation and highlight the importance of continuing to push back against incorrect arguments and to push for representation wherever and whenever we can.

Kisha G. Tracy is an Associate Professor of English Studies and Co-Coordinator of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Fitchburg State University. Her main research interests include medieval memory and confession, medieval disability, and higher education pedagogy. Her book, Memory and Confession in Middle English Literature, came out in 2017 from Palgrave.

Danielle Girard is a PhD candidate at Lancaster University, UK. Her thesis, tentatively titled: Slashing the Frontier; Queer Representation and the Hetero-normative Canon: Examining Star Trek and the Effects of Participatory Culture explores Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek at the intersection of Queer and Fan Theory. She has published research on the asexual Vulcan, and is particularly interested in exploring how non-normative queer identities are presented in popular culture.