Queere Literatur 2016: „Maske“, „Körper“, „Schrift“ – drei Diskussionspanels auf dem Literaturfestival „Empfindlichkeiten“ (LCB Berlin)

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Queere Literatur – aus Europa und der Welt: Vom 14. bis 16. Juli 2016 veranstaltet das Literarische Colloquium Berlin (LCB, am Wannsee) ein Festival zu Homosexualitäten – “Empfindlichkeiten” (mehr Infos in der Spex und auf der LCB-Website).

Ich begleite das Festival als Liveblogger.

Der Freitag Vor- und Nachmittag gehört drei großen, knapp zweistündigen Diskussions-Panels: „Maske“, „Körper“ und „Schrift“. Fotos vom Festival-Fotografen Tobias Bohm:

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11.00 Uhr: Maske. Statements und Diskussion – mit: 

Ahmet Sami Özbudak (Istanbul)
Angela Steidele (Köln)
Hilary McCollum (Donegal)
Thomas Meinecke (Eurasburg)
Robert Gillett (London)

Moderation: Franziska Bergmann

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Statements aus der Diskussion, die mir im Gedächtnis blieben – schnell mitgetippt:

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We need to watch language closely and ask ourselves: Whose power is actually operating in that sentence? – Robert Gillett

I know that I’m not a man – I’m DOING a man. That’s what I learned from feminist theory. – Thomas Meinecke

A woman dressing up as a man is confirming the system – by undermining it. – Angela Steidele

I think that queer theory has more… air than, at this minute, it needs: A lot of queer discourse is completely alienating to the vast majority of people. Queer theory is elitist and exclusionary. – Hillary McColum

I disagree. I know that reading queer theory exhausting. But I think that right now, academic writing has so much turned into being like narrative writing – almost like belletristik, literature, pieces of art… I’ve learned a lot about writing from academic writing – often written by women deconstructing feminism: I don’t make the distinction anymore between theory and fiction. – Thomas Meinecke

Angela Steidele benutzt in Vorträgen oft das generische Femininum: „Ich sage „die Biografin“, „die Autorin“… and I know that I shock my audience with that.

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Tobias Bohms Fotos vom zweiten Panel:

 

12.30 Uhr: Körper. Statements und Diskussion – mit:

Perihan Magden (Istanbul)
Roland Spahr (Frankfurt)
Antje Rávic Strubel (Berlin)
Michał Witkowski (Warszawa)

Moderation: Dirk Naguschewski

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Statements aus der Diskussion, die mir im Gedächtnis blieben – schnell mitgetippt:

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Accepting ambiguities is very important in the work of Hubert Fichte and in queer literature as a whole. That’s what Fichte talked about in „die Verschwulung der Welt“: It doesn’t mean that everybody has to be gay – but that everybody should learn to perceive the world in different ways. – Roland Spahr

If you’re known as a gay writer, the publishing house wants you to write about homosexuality in every new book – and you have to prove [your authenticity] with your body and your biography, again and again. But what am I? What shelf, what section should I be placed in? „East German author“? „Woman writer“? „Gay writer“? That alone should give me the right to be… everywhere: On ALL the bookshelves! – Antje Rávic Strubel

If I’m doing a reading – especially in England or France – all writers are asked about literature. I’m asked – especially about four years ago: ‚How do you feel about Turkey joining the European Union‘? They others are writes. I’m seen as a diplomat. When it comes to Turkish writers, it’s always about politics. – Perihan Magden

Once your books leave the country, you’re not only [seen as] a man and a homosexual – but a Polish person, too. So you have one more problem. British publishers always want you to write about Auschwitz or about the pope. You have to first overcome that your literature is always seen in the context of Poland: „Oh – look at this literature… coming out of such a backwards country full of problems!“ – Michał Witkowski

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Tobias Bohms Fotos vom dritten Panel:

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15.30 Uhr: Schrift. Statements und Diskussion – mit:

Gunther Geltinger (Köln)
Ben Fergusson (Oxford / Berlin)
Joachim Helfer (Berlin)
Sookee (Berlin)
Saleem Haddad (London)
Jayrôme C. Robinet (Berlin)

Moderation: Nina Seiler

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Statements aus der Diskussion, die mir im Gedächtnis blieben – schnell mitgetippt:

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Please go count queer published writers: We have not yet travelled even half the way to full recognition. We’re – all of us here […at the festival] – are the exceptions. Not the rule. – Joachim Helfer

We all have multiple identities, but I think that sometimes, the identity that is the most threatened is going to be in the forefront. – Jayrôme C. Robinet

The concept of „queerness“ touches on issues of class, politics that I identify with beyond my sexuality: „Queer“ is a term that’s quite broad and subversive. – Saleem Haddad

I know what gay sex is. I know what gay love is. I can imagine all kinds of desires. But I have no idea what a „gay identity“ is. – Joachim Helfer

I wish I wouldn’t have an identity. I wish that I could just… evaporate into straight white maleness. – Saleem Haddad

I love hiphop culture, but it can be very homophic. A lot of artists say „No homo“ all the time. So I turned „no homo“ into „pro homo“… and sometimes, during my concerts, guys in the front row go all „pro homo! pro homo!“ before they realize what they are saying. – Sookee

…und ein Gedanke von Joachim Helfer: Zu fragen, ob spezifisch „queere“ Arten gäbe, sich zu äußern oder Kunst zu machen, kann man erst, „wenn 100 Jahre lang jeder leben kann, wie er will – weil so viel [queere Kunst] gerade aus Oppression heraus geschieht“.

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all my 2016 interviews on Queer Literature:

• Hilary McCollum (Link)
• Saleem Haddad (Link)
• Luisgé Martin (Link)
• Raziel Reid (Link)

…and, in German:

• Katy Derbyshire (Link)
• Kristof Magnusson (Link)
• Angela Steidele (Link)
• Hans Hütt (Link)
• Martina Minette Dreier (Link)

Kuratoren & Experten am Literarischen Colloquium Berlin: 

• Thorsten Dönges (Link)
• Samanta Gorzelniak (Link)
• Ronny Matthes (Link)

Queer Literature: “Empfindlichkeiten” Festival 2016:

• essays/statements by LGBTQ writers
• quotes & discussions, July 15th
• quotes & discussions, July 16th