Nation Queer? Discourses Of Nationhood And Homosexuality In Times Of Transformation: Case Studies From Poland
PhD Thesis, July 2012, Birkbeck College, Univeristy of London
"This thesis explores the relationship between discourses of nationhood and homosexuality in the context of Polish "post-communist transformations" that have taken place over the last decade. It begins with the hypothesis that there must be a more complex relationship between the two discourses than a situation where nationhood simply and straightforwardly rejects the homosexuality. As such, the thesis explores possibilities for going beyond (or further into) the dialectics of the same/other, as a way to develop understandings about the relationship between the nation and homosexuality. The focus is on undercurrents and internal dynamics, constantly negotiating and re-working mutual dependencies between the two discourses. In this context, the thesis is especially geared to exploring the "unforeseen" (or possible), the "wilful", "unintended" (or hoped for) in the two discourses.
The thesis is organised around three major research problems:
(1) How is homosexuality framed by national discourse (when performed by the nation-state)?
(2) How do discourses of homosexuality relate to nationhood (in times of national distress)?
(3) How might national/ist rhetoric be present in discourses of LGBT organisations? Methodologically, the thesis is grounded in a case study approach and discourse analysis.
Overall, I argue that we may map out the relations between the nationhood and homosexuality through discourses of rejection as well as dependency, oscillating on the continuum between "sameness" and "otherness". These relations are best described via the concepts of "dis-location", "be-longing", "attachment", and "dis-identification".
This research is important for at least three reasons. There is a scarcity of work about sexualities in Central and Eastern Europe and a need for more work in this area. Additionally, we have recently witnessed a rise of concern with "homonationalism" in queer studies. Attention to Poland is a valuable addition to this scholarship, which so far is about only the "West" and "Islam". Finally, it also contributes to nationalism studies, where sexuality is still an under-explored topic, and it offers new insights for scholars interested in Polish nationalism studies."
De-Centring Western Sexualities: Central and Eastern European Perspectives
Edited by Robert Kulpa and Joanna Mizielinska (Farnham: Ashgate, 2011)
visit ashgate's webpage
"De-Centring Western Sexualities critically assesses the current state of knowledge about sexualities outside the framings of 'The West', by focusing on gender and sexuality within the context of Central and Eastern Europe. Providing rich case studies drawn from a range of "post-communist" countries, this interdisciplinary volume brings together the latest research on the formation of sexuality in Central and Eastern Europe, alongside analyses of the sexual and national identity politics of the region.
Engaged with current debates within queer studies about about temporarily and knowledge production, and inspired by the post-colonial critique, the book tries to problematize the western hegemony within sexuality studies, and produce local theoretical insights better attuned to its local geo-temporal realities.
As such, it offers a cultural and social re-evaluation of everyday life experiences, that will be of interest to sociologists, queer studies scholars, geographers and anthropologists."
Contents: [SEE PDF]
- Introduction: why study sexualities in Central and Eastern Europe [SEE PDF];
- Contemporary peripheries': queer studies, circulation of knowledge, and East/West divide, Joanna Mizielinska and Robert Kulpa;
- Between walls. Provincialisms, human rights, sexualities and Serbian public discourses on EU integration, Jelisaveta Blagojevic;
- Nations and sexualities – 'West' and 'East', Robert Kulpa;
- A short history of the queer time of 'post-socialist' Romania, or, are we there yet? Let's ask Madonna, Shannon Woodcock;
- Travelling ideas, travelling times. On the temporalities of LGBT and queer politics in Poland and in the 'West', Joanna Mizielinska;
- Researching transnational activism around LGBTQ politics in Central and Eastern Europe: activist solidarities and spatial imaginings, Jon Binnie and Christian Klesse;
- Rendering gender in lesbian families: a Czech case, Katerina Nedbálková;
- The heteronormative panopticon and the transparent closet of the public space in Slovenia, Roman Kuhar;
- Heteronormativity, intimate citizenship and the regulation of same-sex sexualities in Bulgaria, Sasha Roseneil and Maryia Stoilova;
- Situating intimate citizenship in Macedonia – emotional navigation and everyday queer/KVAR grounded moralities, Alexander Lambevski;
- Index [SEE PDF].
Reviews:
'There are few publications of which one could say one had waited for them to appear for ten years. This is even less the case with regard to academic publications. This moment of enthusiasm results from the fusion of geo-political, temporal and activist criticism in the book 'De-centring Western sexualities', edited by Robert Kulpa and Joanna Mizielinska. The book explores the question of the relationship of Western European and so-called post-communist countries to sexual politics. While there may have been continuous, emancipatory developments in LGBTIQ politics in west Europe, all activist strategies and all theoretical developments seem to have coincidentally impacted on the diverse communities of the East since the fall of the wall. Robert Kulpa and Joanna Mizielinska literally talk of a 'knot' of geo-temporal coincidences which spilled over the wall: homophile movements, identity-political gay and lesbian organisations which are primarily interested in legal equality and inclusion into a (hetero) normality, as much as queer approaches and groups, which are less interested in assimilation than for the destabilisation of societal walls. (...) This is a necessary book which achieves to document the complex nature of hegemonic structures in a way that allows to unsettle the representation of 'inside and outside'.
Full review (in German) here:
http://kulturrisse.at/ausgaben/queere-de-konstruktionen/oppositionen/shaking-the-stone-wall
'The dual timelines of development between the Queer movements in Western and Central/Eastern Europe's mean that polarized nationalism(s), the desire(s) for cultural independence(s), differing political loyalties, and differences in language, culture, and legislation further complicate the idea of complete homogeneity in European Queer activist movements. This socio-political soup seems to ensure that the lived experiences of Queer citizens in neighboring countries can be almost completely oppositional. Coupled with huge differences in the rights for men and women, and considering how this interacts with the positioning of rights in regards to intimate citizenship, 'De-centering Western Sexualities' is a necessary academic ear trumpet for us to learn to listen in, for particular ideas present in cacophony of 'Western' Queer voices that are shouting out for their rights.
(...)
'De-centering Western Sexualities' gives an excellent insight and attempts a historical overview which asks academics to consider dual timelines of development, for which without an understanding of, the current conflicts within specific European Queer cultures and movements appear overly confusing and incongruent.'
Full review here:
http://reviews.media-culture.org.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5097
'The editors make a good effort to shatter and rebuild reader's assumptions about the CEE region, which has experienced a "tectonic restructuring" since 1989. They do that in particular by complicating the ideas about European time and space. How come, for example, that we don't think of Germany as a post-communist European country? While doing that they are also able to give some (indispensable) remediation about the geo-spatial and geo-political context the individual texts explore in more details.
(...)
All in all the collection De-Centring Western Sexualities managed to provide a host of unpredictable angles and new information. While doing that it was also able to inspire some thrilling ideas to be incorporated in novel research projects – something most of the Western queer anthologies that evoke only the "been there, done that" sentiment fail to do. Hence I would suggest that you not just read the volume when you have time, but actually make time to read what Central and Eastern European perspectives could offer you in terms of revitalizing queer theory.'
Full review here:
http://www.helsinki.fi/jarj/sqs/sqs2_11/sqs_contents2_11.html
Download here: [PDF]
De-Centering Western Sexualities is a valuable and overdue collection of ten essays which address non-normative sexualities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual/transgender and queer (LGBTQ) activisms and politics in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) context. The book’s relevance is two-fold. On the one hand, it provides theoretical and analytical tools to critically assess the hegemony and influence of “Western” knowledge production in relation to (homo)sexual identities, communities and practices in CEE. On the other hand, by presenting intrinsic examples and local case studies of sexual politics, the volume marks a significant step in the theory production of queer and sexuality studies.
(...)
The relevance of this book’s topics and insights to current LGBT/queer endeavors in CEE have become apparent in recent months. The public debates over the can- celled Pride Parade in Podgorica, Montene- gro (May 2011) and the violent attacks on Pride Parade participants in Split, Croatia (June 2011) point to the ways in which LGBT issues continue to be managed and framed. Furthermore, these incidents and the commentary surrounding them reflect complex relationships between sexuality, religiosity and national culture – the very connections so comprehensively debated in the volume under review.
Full issue info:
http://www.suedost-institut.de/suedosteuropa.htm
Download here: [PDF]
Read and download the review here:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.90.3.0590
Read and download the review here:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2012.694615
It is indeed a matter of global politics for CEE members to find an identity for themselves, especially in light of post-1990 developments. The unique contribution of this volume is to bring something that one would have thought belongs to the private domain to the public domain of discourse formation, not about sexuality, but about an entire range of power equations and identity formation mechanisms.
However although this book sets up a difference and unequal power hierarchy between CEE and Western Europe within the discourse of colonisation, it makes this reviewer think that sexual politics is still a largely western issue. The very fact of sexuality entering the public domain is something that may be quite unrecognised in most parts of the non-western world. This very recognition puts this discourse within the western domain irrespective of its internal power hierarchy. In this sense, CEE falls in an intermediate zone between Anglo-American and the non-western, say the South Asian or the East Asian world, where such discourses still remain strictly in the private domain. This is a thought-provoking book with wide theoretical implications.'
Read the issue here:
http://www.drustvo-antropologov.si/AN/2012_1_eng.html
and Download here: [PDF]
All in all, the two books have much to offer. If they were not so ridiculously costly, I would suggest they should both find a place in the personal book collections of both queer theorists and European specialists. In these two books brimming with ideas, we see the challenge not only to 'de-centre' sexualities in Europe – but ultimately across the globe. These are provocations indeed. In the meanwhile there is much to inform, stimulate and delight in these telling collections.'
Read and download the review here:
http://sexualities.sagepub.com/content/15/5-6.toc
Read and download the review here:
http://dev.ulb.ac.be/cevipol/fr/revue-transitions.html
