Queer Italia Network

直到20世纪90年代，“酷儿”在很大程度上被理解为对同性恋者的辱骂。从那时起，积极分子和学者们就在寻求验证那些困扰或违反社会规范的身份和性行为：其中包括一夫一妻制、可生育的异性恋是标准的观念，而任何其他形式的欲望或性行为都是“偏差”。“酷儿”通常被认为是指任何与“正常”不一致的存在方式。我们迫切需要研究意大利背景下的酷儿经历，原因有三：1)在意大利，仍然没有国家立法来保护女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋、变性/跨性别和酷儿（LGBTQ）个人的权利，反对歧视、解决学校里恐同欺凌、保护LGBTQ寻求庇护者和挑战偏见的运动受到了“哨兵”（Standing Sentinelle In piedi）等团体的攻击，他们反对保护LGBTQ个人权利的倡议。这种情况意味着歧视很普遍，受害者无法诉诸法律来保护他们。2)意大利对酷儿生活和现象的研究很少，部分原因是意大利学术界普遍抵制酷儿理论和方法，包括对种族、民族、性和性别的社会和文化建构的批判性和跨学科分析。尽管如此，意大利的背景提供了丰富的酷儿思想和行动主义，需要批判性的关注，以便更充分地理解性的变化表达和经验。该项目还将分析谴责性别和种族歧视的重要异议声音，例如，包括因性别歧视而寻求庇护的LGBTQ移民和难民社区。这将重新激发关于人类经验的一个重要方面的辩论，并将以重要的方式为多个学科（包括文学研究、性史、性别与性研究、人文地理、社会学、文化和媒体研究）以及政策做出贡献（项目团队（PT）将撰写一篇论文，就LGBTQ权利问题提出研究建议）。3)虽然许多知名学者呼吁更广泛地参与不同语言背景下出现的酷儿思想和观点，但酷儿理论仍然专注于英语世界，尚未与意大利思想在性和其他形式的异议上进行对话。然而，如前所述，意大利传统提供了丰富的理论立场和文化干预，包括行动主义和当代行为艺术，这可能会使现有的英语国家理论背景化，挑战和重塑。与当代和历史上激进的意大利性思想的对话，以及与通过艺术或戏剧处理这个和其他酷儿主题的文化从业者的对话，也可能使酷儿研究学者克服一些人认为是当前思想中的绊脚石。该项目将关注以下问题：1)理论与实践：以英语为母语的酷儿理论在意大利是如何被接受的？在意大利文化中，酷儿的观点和实践发展了什么？跨国对话如何促进更广泛的学术和社会调查以及对英语和意大利语酷儿语境的理解？2)再现与再挪用：酷儿的生活、时刻和政治如何在意大利媒体和文化中再现，酷儿的视角如何影响并提供替代主流当代和历史媒体形式的方法？3)间隙空间/时间性：从酷儿对阶级、性、性别、种族和移民的理论和创造性探索中，我们可以获得什么见解？

Until the 1990s, 'queer' was largely understood as a term of abuse for homosexuals. Since then, it has been reclaimed by activists and scholars seeking to validate identities and sexualities that trouble or transgress social norms: these include the notion that monogomous, reproductive heterosexuality is the standard, and that any other forms of desire or sexual practice are 'deviations'. 'Queer' is often taken to mean any way of being that is at odds with what is considered 'normal'. Research on queer experiences in the Italian context is urgently required for three reasons: 1) In Italy, there is still no national legislation to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, and campaigns to combat discrimination, to tackle homophobic bullying in schools, to protect LGBTQ asylum seekers, and to challenge prejudice are under attack from groups such as the 'Sentinelle in piedi' (Standing Sentinels) who oppose initiatives that seek to protect the rights of LGBTQ individuals. This situation means that discrimination is widespread, and victims have no recourse to the law to protect them. 2) Very little research on queer lives and phenomena has been carried out in Italy, partly because the Italian academy is generally resistant to queer theories and methodologies, including critical and interdisciplinary analyses of social and cultural constructions of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender. Despite this, the Italian context offers a wealth of queer thought and activism that demands critical attention in order to understand more fully the changing expressions and experiences of sexuality. This project will also analyse important dissenting voices that denounce sexual and racial discrimination, for example, including amongst communities of LGBTQ immigrants and refugees seeking asylum due to sexual discrimination. This will reinvigorate debate on a crucial aspect of human experience and will contribute in important ways to multiple academic disciplines (including Literary Studies, History of Sexuality, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Human Geography, Sociology, Cultural and Media Studies), as well as to policy (the Project Team (PT) will write a paper making research recommendations on issues of LGBTQ rights). 3) While many established scholars have called for wider engagement with queer ideas and perspectives that have emerged in different linguistic contexts, queer theories continue to remain focussed on the Anglophone world, and have not yet entered into dialogue with Italian thought on sexual and other forms of dissidence. However, as mentioned, the Italian tradition offers a rich array of theoretical positions and cultural interventions, including activism and contemporary performance art, that might contextualize, challenge and reshape existing Anglophone theories. Dialogue with contemporary and historical radical Italian thought on sexuality, as well as with cultural practitioners who tackle this and other queer subjects through art or theatre, may also enable queer studies scholars to overcome what some see as stumbling blocks in current thinking.The project will focus on the following questions:1) Theories and Practices: How have Anglophone queer theories been received in Italy and what queer perspectives and practices have developed in Italian culture? How might transnational dialogues foster larger academic and social investigations and understanding of both the Anglophone and Italian queer contexts?2) Representation and Reappropriation: How are queer lives, moments and politics represented in Italian media and culture, and how do queer perspectives impact on and provide alternatives to dominant contemporary and historical media forms?3) Interstitial Spaces/Temporalities: What insights can be gained from queer theoretical and creative explorations of class, sex, gender, race, and migration that focus on intersectionality and inbetweenness?