The early modern period was in the grasp of a strange paradox concerning queer desire: in theory, was condemned as a crime against the natural and divine order of the universe. In early modern England, it was legally classified as a felony punishable by death – but in practice, it was often unofficially tolerated and rarely prosecuted. What is more, ancient classical culture, which was revived and celebrated so enthusiastically in the Renaissance, offered numerous prominent models of queer desire, such as Alexander the Great and Hephaestion, Achilles and Patroclus, or Socrates and Alcibiades, while in classical pastoral poetry, positive portrayals of homoerotic love were not uncommon either. Although homosexuality, understood in the modern sense as a sexual identity (as opposed to practice), is a late Victorian “discovery”, queer desire was evidently part and parcel of the cultural and literary traditions that Shakespeare and his contemporaries inherited, as well as their life-word, which – like any patriarchal society – was deeply structured by homosocial spaces (such as male-only schools or universities) that did little to inhibit homoerotic desire in practice. Female homoeroticism, on the other hand, seems to have existed in a greater cultural vacuum, which will be all the more reason to consider the concerns about gender and sexuality that are at stake when it actually is made explicit.
In this seminar, we will read various early modern texts that represent queer desire and identity. We will discuss how they reflect on its social acceptance (or lack thereof), how they reflect on the polemical functions of charges of “sodomy” and, more generally, how their concepts of queer desire and identity may differ from or resemble present-day concepts. We will read some of Shakespeare’s sonnets (a large portion of which are, notoriously, addressed to a man) and discuss their place in literary history as well as excerpts from several Shakespeare plays. In addition, we will read Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II (c. 1593), a history play about a medieval king, whose inordinate attachment to his favourite Gaveston spells doom for his troubled reign. In addition to further selected poems and fictional and non-fictional text excerpts by other Renaissance writers, we will also watch excerpts of modern adaptations of queer Renaissance texts on screen, such as Derek Jarman’s classic New Queer Cinema adaptation of Edward II (1991), and discuss their strategies of queer representation in light of changing historical contexts.
In order to gain credit, regular attendance and active participation in class discussions are mandatory. (More than two unexcused absences disqualify students from gaining credit.) Students are expected to write a seminar paper at the end of the semester.
Learning outcomes: On completion of the course, students will have practised their close reading skills and have become familiar with early modern concepts of queer desire and how they are expressed in early modern literature. They will have learned to reflect on the historical specificities and developments of concepts queer desire and their functions in various social and political contexts, as well as the interplay of literary conventions and social reality.
Bibliography: Students are expected to acquire a copy of the following edition in the course of the semester: Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, eds. Martin Wiggins and Robert Lindsey, with a new introduction by Stephen Guy-Bray (revised edition), New Mermaids, London: Bloomsbury, 2014. All other texts will be made available online on Moodle.
- Enseignant·e: Kilian Markus Schindler