Working-Class LGBTQ+ Representation in British Cinema

近年来，英国和大部分西方国家授予同性伴侣的权利都集中在家庭和（可继承的）财务方面的保守价值观上，主要惠及那些在社会经济上享有最大特权、最规范的LGBTQ+群体，而在某种程度上忽视了最脆弱的LGBTQ+群体。身份和生活方式被规范化或妖魔化，以适应社会和政治议程。除了性别和性取向，边缘人群的需求经常被降级，以支持主流/特权阶层（想想：格伦费尔大厦）。那么，为什么这个项目与LGBTQ+工人阶级的代表有关呢？因为屏幕不仅提供娱乐，而且还是一种重要的社会政治工具，可以告知和影响关于身份、我们自己以及我们如何看待他人的观点。虽然积极的同性恋表现有所增加，但与上述变化保持一致，LGBTQ+范围内的其他主题和工人阶级经常被妖魔化或庇护。作为一名电影制作人和苏格兰酷儿国际电影节（SQIFF）主席，这个及时的项目建立在我对酷儿表现和由此产生的影响的现有研究之上。它将填补学术研究的三个重要空白（理论、文本分析、定性分析）：创造关于酷儿工人阶级身份的新理论；以此来解读1980年以来英国电影中工人阶级与LGBTQ+身份和生活方式的交集；收集工人阶级LGBTQ+对这种银幕表现的看法。该奖学金的两份出版物，一本专著，《可怜的酷儿：1980年以来英国电影中的工人阶级LGBTQ+代表》，以及我将编辑的特刊中的一篇期刊文章，将填补酷儿理论和电影研究的空白，为该项目的第一个-文本分析-链。自新千年以来，酷儿理论和其他少数群体/弱势群体身份的结合受到了极大的关注，但对阶级/社会经济地位的研究却基本缺失。我的研究将定位酷儿概念的社会政治和经济，创造一个跨学科的理论。我通过电影这一媒介来说明这一点，提供了第一本关于英国银幕上LGBTQ+和工人阶级身份的书。第二部分研究包括在英国各地（卡迪夫、格拉斯哥、利兹、伦敦）的酷儿电影节上举办的一系列研讨会，在这些研讨会上，我从那些认为自己是LGBTQ+和工人阶级的人那里收集数据，了解他们对银幕上的表现的态度，以及在传统上由中产阶级及以上阶层使用的艺术场所中，他们是如何在银幕外得到满足的。这一定量分析将构成此类研究的第一篇：一篇期刊文章，探讨英国LGBTQ+工人阶级对电影表现和艺术包容的态度。因此，该项目将探索代表性和现实，并确保我通过新的知识，产出和酷儿屏幕研究网络发展成为研究领导者，我将在整个奖学金和以后继续成长。在SQIFF 2020之前，通过一系列研讨会和会议，QSRN将各个学科的学者与策划和制作电影的学者联合起来。两部影片都将以工人阶级的酷儿为主线，并以此为跳板，在奖学金结束时推出工人阶级电影节。我致力于影响学术界以外的世界，改善对少数群体的态度和生活现实，与此一致，其他非学术产出将包括一部关于酷儿工人阶级代表的纪录片，将在电影节上放映，以及电影节、艺术场所和资助机构将采用的关于工人阶级代表和包容的最佳实践文件。我将通过一个项目网站，在学术界内外自由分享这些信息。

Rights granted to same-sex couples across Britain and much of the Western world in recent years focus on the conservative values of family and (inheritable) finances, primarily benefitting those most socio-economically privileged and normative on the LGBTQ+ spectrum and somewhat neglecting the most vulnerable LGBTQ+ subjects. Identities and lifestyles are normalized or demonized to suit agendas, social and political. Beyond gender and sexuality, the needs of people on the margins are often relegated in favour of the mainstream/privileged (think: Grenfell Tower). Why, then, is this project concerned with LGBTQ+ working-class representation? Because the screen does not just provide entertainment, but is also a significant socio-political tool to inform and influence opinion about identity, our own and how we view others. While there is an increase in positive gay representation, in keeping with aforementioned changes, other subjects on the LGBTQ+ spectrum and the working-class are often demonised or patronised. This timely project builds on my existing research on queer representation and impact arising from this, as a filmmaker and Chair of the Scottish Queer International Film Festival (SQIFF). It will fill three significant gaps in academic research (theoretical; textual analysis; qualitative analysis): creating new theory on queer working-class identities; applying this to read the intersection of working-class and LGBTQ+ identities and lifestyles in British film from 1980; collecting data on working-class LGBTQ+ people's opinions on such representation onscreen.Two publications from this Fellowship, a monograph, Poor Queers: Working-Class LGBTQ+ Representation in British Film from 1980, and a journal article within a special journal issue I will edit, will fill lacunae in queer theory and Film Studies for the first - textual analysis - strand of the project. Since the new millennium, there has been a significant focus on the interface of queer theory and other minority/disadvantaged identities, but work on class/socio-economic position is largely absent. My research will situate queer concepts socio-politically and economically, to create an interdisciplinary theory. I illustrate this through the medium of film to provide the first book-length study on LGBTQ+ and working-class identity on the British screen.The second strand of research comprises a series of workshops at queer film festivals across Britain (Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, London), in which I gather data from those who identify as LGBTQ+ and working-class about attitudes to onscreen representation and how they are catered to offscreen in arts venues traditionally used by the middle-class and above. This quantitative analysis will form the first study of its kind: a journal article exploring British LGBTQ+ working-class attitudes to filmic representation and inclusion in the arts. The project will, therefore, explore representation and reality, and ensure I develop as a research leader via new knowledge, outputs, and the Queer Screens Research Network that I will continue to grow throughout the Fellowship and beyond. QSRN unites scholars across a range of disciplines with those who curate and make film, via a series of seminars and a conference immediately before SQIFF 2020. Both will have Working-Class Queers as their lead strand and be used as a springboard to launch a Working-Class Film Festival at the end of the Fellowship.In line with my dedication to impacting the world beyond academia and improving attitudes towards and the lived reality of minorities, other non-academic outputs will include a documentary film about queer working-class representation to be screened at film festivals, and best practice documents on working-class representation and inclusion to be employed by film festivals, arts venues, and funding bodies. I will share much of this information freely, within and beyond academia, via a project website.