Why is Eastern Europe (perceived as) less accepting of sexual and gender non-normativity? Has it always been like that? How have LGBTQ+ literary production and scholarship developed in Eastern Europe? Has there been a pink curtain separating the supposedly liberal West from the less than welcoming East? And how does all that show in literature?
The conference will focus on LGBTQ+ literature from Eastern Europe, both contemporary and past, examining a wide range of theoretical, cultural, historical and other topics, aiming to shift the centre of such discussions a little further east.
Everybody is welcome to participate in the events, which are free and open to all, and will take place at the Faculty of Arts (Filozofska fakulteta). Both days there are also after-conference events, on Thursday at Pritljiče and Friday Klub Tiffany, while on Saturday there’s an LGBT tour of the city.
The full programme is as follows, with a map at the end, and the related Facebook page is here, while a PDF with the programme and all the related abtracts can be found here.
THURSDAY, 25 OCTOBER 2018
Venue: Modra soba / Blue Room (5th Floor), Filozofska fakulteta / Faculty of Arts, Aškerčeva cesta 2, Ljubljana
10.45–11.00: Opening
11.00–11.45: Keynote Speech (Prof Gregory Woods)
12.00–13.15: Panel 1 (4 × 15 min. + 15 min. debate)
Vitaly Chernetsky
In Search of Territories of Freedom: Ivan Kozlenko’s Tanzher and the Queer Challenge to the Ukrainian Canon
Tamta Melashvili
Queering Modern Georgian Literature
Gábor Csiszár
Wartime Memories from East and West: The construction of George Faludy’s Gayness
Izabela Morska
Modesty at Work: Zygmunt Mycielski in Warsaw
Lunch break
14.30–15.45: Panel 2 (4 × 15 min. + 15 min. debate)
Miha Javornik
Голубая Literature and Russian Holiness
Slaven Crnić
The Whisper and the Cry: Queer Masculinities in Ivo Andrić’s The Days of the Consuls and Omer Pasha Latas
Denis Ferhatović
Jozef Pronek’s Underwear: Displacement, Queer Desire, and Eastern European Masculinity in Aleksandar Hemon’s Nowhere Man
Błażej Warkocki and Przemysław Górecki
Eastern Boys and Western Lovers: Polish Gay Literature in the Context of the East/West Distinction
16.00–17.00: Panel 3 (3 × 15 min. + 15 min. debate)
Alenka Koron and Matteo Colombi
Queer Emotions? The Narrative Shape of Feelings in Noben glas by Suzana Tratnik and Eskorta by Michal Hvorecký
Roberto Dapit
Friulian Love Poetry and Its Reception in the Slovenian Cultural Environment
Andrej Zavrl
Boys and Critics: The Reception of the First Slovenian Homoerotic Novel as a Reflection of Sociocultural Changes
Conference Xtra
19.00: LGBTQ+ reading by Slovenian LGBTQ+ writers and conference participants (very welcome to join in) at Pritličje, Mestni trg 2, Ljubljana 1000
FRIDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2018
Venue: Modra soba / Blue Room (5th Floor), Filozofska fakulteta / Faculty of Arts, Aškerčeva cesta 2, Ljubljana
10.00–11.15: Panel 4 (4 × 15 min. + 15 min. debate)
Alojzija Zupan Sosič
Contemporary Slovene LGBTQ Narrative
Nina Dragičević
Sappho Was Not a Poet: The Sonorous Character of Poetry and Its Emancipatory Potential
Nataša Velikonja
Lesbian Poetry Tradition
Vesna Liponik
The Subversive Construction of Gender in the Poetry of Kristina Hočevar
11.30–12.45: Panel 5 (4 × 15 min. + 15 min. debate)
Kevin Moss
Camp Kharitonov and Russian Gay Identity
Tatiana Klepikova
“If a Cutie, Then Always Misha”: Evgenii Kharitonov’s Queer Masculinities
Maruša Maligoj
Reconceptualising the Russian LGBTQ+ Community: The Impact of Russia’s “Gay Propaganda” Laws on LGBTQ+ Discourse
Andrea Trovesi
Bulgarian Heretics, Warm Brothers and Blue Lovers. A Historical and Etymological Overview of Words And Expressions Used in The Languages of Eastern Europe (Mainly Slavic) to Refer to Male Homosexuals
Lunch break
14.00–15.15: Panel 6 (4 × 15 min. + 15 min. debate)
Kinga Paszko
The Depiction of Gay Identity in Michał Witkowski’s Prose
Jelena Jović
(Post)Communist Queer Identities in Uroš Filipović’s Glasshouse and Michał Witkowski’s Lovetown
Eszter Timár
Queer Closeting: The Affective Politics of Gábor Thurzó’s Days and Nights
Milena Mileva Blažić
Comparative Analysis of Children’s Literature – Dečki (Boys) and Fantje iz gline (Clay Boys)
15.30–16.30: Panel 7 (3 × 15 min. + 15 min. debate)
Maja Šučur
Criticism in the Closet
Suzana Tratnik
Passion for Analysis
Jasna Jasna Žmak
The Apparitional Gay & the Invisible Everyone Else – LGBTQ Identities in Contemporary Croatian Playwriting
Conference Xtra
21.00: Cabaret performance and party at LGBTQ+ Klub Tiffany, Metelkova mesto
SATURDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2018
11.00: LGBTQ+ Walking Tour of Ljubljana
Meeting point: Stari trg 34 (by the Hercules fountain in the Old Town)
