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t o r q u e r e
Journal of the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Association / Revue de la =
Soci=E9t=E9 canadienne des =E9tudes lesbiennes et gaies

SPECIAL ISSUE CALL FOR PAPERS
Volume 6, 2004

M E M O R I A L I Z I N G Q U E E R S /=20
Q U E E R I N G R E M E M B R A N C E S

        Quilts. Vigils. Memorial runs. Video testimony. Museum =
exhibitions. News reports. Historical accounts. Each of these and more =
are contemporary cultural practices through which people and events =
associated in various ways with "queerness" are being publicly =
memorialized. While absences, silences, and fissures in meaning continue =
to matter, they matter differently in 2003 -- after more than two =
decades of AIDS activism and remembrance, when questions of gay marriage =
are on the Canadian public agenda in an unprecedented manner, and an =
internet search on memorials to Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena or Aaron =
Webster return many hundreds of hits. In initiating this special issue =
of torquere, we are taking this to be a timely and productive moment for =
deliberation and reflection on what is at stake in queer memorial =
practices and interests: publicly, collectively, personally, =
politically, pedagogically, ethically . . . .=20

        Such deliberation may be guided by the following types of =
questions:

  $ How do contemporary identities and identifications of =
gender/sexuality shape which histories and whose stories are remembered =
and/or forgotten?=20

  $ How are "queer" histories being passed on across generations? =
What issues are at stake in these cross-generational engagements?

  $ What does it mean to teach and learn from queer memories / =
memories of queers? What obligations and responsibilities might such =
learnings accrue?

  $ How does an attention to queerness challenge and/or complicate =
collective memories of events marked by the assumption of =
heterornormativity? What is forgotten when queer lives are forgotten?

  $ How are complex relationships of remembrance and activism, =
mourning and moving on, being played out in contemporary memorializing =
of queer deaths?

        Contributors are not limited to these questions; they are =
offered as suggestions.=20

        We welcome a diversity of approaches to the central problematic =
of the issue: from analyses of specific memorial practices, to =
theoretical deliberations on the stakes of queer memorializing, to =
creative submissions that enact a remembrance. We are particularly =
interested in creating a collection that crosses discipline and genre =
boundaries, includes contributions that challenge conventional academic =
practices of form and voice, and is critically attentive to the ways in =
which markings of gender/sexuality risk an un-marking of "other" =
relations and identifications. While work by Canadian scholars and =
artists and/or work on Canadian memorial practices is particularly =
encouraged, this special issue of torquere is not restricted to work on =
these terms.

Special Issue Editor: Sharon Rosenberg, University of Alberta

Abstracts due: August 29, 2003. Please send one-two page abstracts =
indicating the substantive focus for a paper, key questions, the =
character of the argument that the paper will put forth, methodological =
approach(es), etc.

Papers will be due: February 27, 2004.

Please send enquiries, abstracts and final papers to:

Dr. Sharon Rosenberg
Assistant Professor
Theory / Culture
Department of Sociology
5-21 Tory
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB
T6G 2H4

http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/socweb/faculty/rosenberg/rosenberg.htm

To learn more about torquere check the website at:
http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/%7Etorquere/

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          or write Erika Lin: elin_at_english.upenn.edu
         ===============================================
Received on Thu May 22 2003 - 02:21:57 EDT