EUROPEAN AND EAST-ASIAN PERSPECTIVES ON QUEER THEORY

Kazuyoshi Kawasaka, Jasmin Rückert

This Panel introduces and discusses a new project at Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, that aims to bridge the criticisms of European-centrism and Queer Pedagogy through practices of teaching Queer Theory in the classroom. Starting in April 2018, a programme introducing European and East-Asian Perspectives on Queer Theory and consisting of four seminars over the course of two years is taking place. Organized at the Chair for Cultural Studies and Gender Studies at the Department of Modern Japanese Studies, this course is one of the first at the university with an explicit focus on Queer Theory and the first to bring together transnational perspectives from Asia and Europe with this perspective. Open to students across faculties, the programme aims to introduce key concepts from the fields of Gender and Queer Studies and to show how Queer Studies in Asia, with a focus on Japan, have developed and have negotiated theories and concepts prominent in “the West”. In the course of the seminars, we seek to unravel and discuss with students how gender and sexuality have been historically used to misrepresent other cultures and peoples in Western academic discussions. At the same time, we re-examine gender and sexuality as key perspectives for students to understand their own cultures and also to approach and study other cultures. In our presentation, we present the structure, content and aims of this programme and reflect on the challenges that we encountered during the first seminar. We wish to discuss how such a course can contribute to a shift in perspectives and perceptions of Queerness.

Jasmin Rückert is a doctoral student (Japanese Studies, Queer Studies) at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

Kazuyoshi Kawasaka is a Post-doctoral researcher (Japanese Studies, Queer Studies) at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf