De-Colonizing the Other: Queer Spaces beyond the Western Canon

prezentace, poster

angličtina

The section on queer spatiality is already a traditional part of SAH conferences. The vast majority of contributions in the last twenty years, however, mostly dealt with material originating from the cultural environment of Western Europe and North America. Such a discourse mostly shows how queer spaces served in modern times as a representation of the social status of their creators and patrons, or provided a refuge to escape from the repressive practices of a homophobically structured power. We believe that it is necessary to bring decolonization approaches into the investigation of queer spatiality and to take into account other cultural and geographical frameworks: whether it is Africa, Asia, South and Central America, Australia, or Eastern Europe. Discussing queer spatiality as an emancipatory strategy is thus in the grip of one dominant Western cultural and political narrative, while the specifics of different cultures and emancipatory movements outside of it remain out of focus. Queer spaces – domestic, community, and public – are simultaneously the subject of colonizing practices. After 1927, the British-born Frenchman Maurice Talvande created a center for queer socialization in his newly built villa in Sri Lanka. At the same time, they represent a manifestation of cultural distinction, such as the shared housing of the hijras in South Asia. In the recent publication Queer Spaces, which sought to be topographically inclusive and post-colonial, not even 50% of the entries are from outside Europe and North America, despite covering 73% of the global land area (excluding Antarctica).

queer spaces; queer architecture; queer decolonisation; queer theory; queer studies

JACKSON, L., REVUELTA, F.

1. 5. 2025

Society of Architectural Historians

Atlanta, GA

https://www.sah.org/docs/default-source/conference/78th_book_of_abstracts.pdf?sfvrsn=ef58289b_2