Methodological approaches to gender and heteronormativity in sources
Genre et hétéronormativité dans les sources : approches méthodologiques
Published on Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Abstract
This seminar and its upcoming publication under different formats aim at questioning the role played by gender studies in the analysis of the sources used by researchers, while also interrogating the scientific methods used to comprehend the said sources (whether they be archival, legal, literary, iconographic or ethnographic sources). The goal of this seminar is to confront the different methodological approaches of gender that researchers may have in the sources they use, through the lens of heteronormativity.
Announcement
Arguments
In the wake of the first two conferences aimed at young scholars that took place in 2022 on “Sources and gender: readings, re-readings and misreadings” and in 2023 on “Gender and heteronormativity in sources: embodying and transgressing the heterosexual injunctions”, this third conference will focus on the methodological approaches to gender studies through the lens of the concept of heteronormativity. Such a concept appears to be an indispensable tool to the analysis of the foundations of the existing binarity between the masculine and the feminine and, in that regard, it contributes to the development of a critical framework that creates the possibility for researchers to study human connections in relation to gender and sexuality in their sources. The concept of heteronormativity, understood as a critical tool coming from gender studies, thus proves to be useful in the re-evaluation of a vision of gender identities and sexualities that is both dualist and determinist. Such a re-evaluation, in turn, questions an essentialist understanding of the sexual division.
As it belongs to a cycle created by the Structure Fédératrice de Recherche ALLHiS, this conference will focus more specifically on the analysis of the sources used by researchers and that can be defined as “all of the traces left by past individuals and on which researchers base their works […] any type of document or object can become a source, on the condition that it should be properly analyzed”.[1] This conference therefore aims at questioning how the concept of heteronormativity impacts the sources that the researchers work on, whether they be written sources (manuscripts, literary or legal texts…), iconographic sources (photos, statues, paintings…) or immaterial sources (ethnographic data). The aim of such a conference is to welcome analyses based on the study of as many different sources as possible, which will enable researchers to construct an interdisciplinary overview of these sources that aims at being diverse rather than exhaustive and that would bring to light the intersectional dynamics that determine the encounters between sexual and gender minorities.[2]
The first edition of this seminar aimed at questioning how relevant a gendered analysis of sources can be, and the second edition focused on “the historical invention of heterosexuality”[3] and on the theorization of heterosexuality as a social imperative in the field of research. The first two conferences therefore ambitioned to shine light on the opposition met by gendered approaches as well as on how discourses and practices have evolved.[4] The hypotheses and reflections raised during the first two editions of this seminar need to be analyzed in depth, particularly from a methodological point of view: how do gender studies influence the scientific habits of researchers? How do women and gender minorities make their way back into disciplinary fields that have long ignored or concealed their very existence? To what extent do corpuses reflect these changes? How do methods vary, from one place to another, depending on the influence of schools of thought pertaining to different geographical horizons? Questioning the circulation of these critical tools at an international level could prove particularly stimulating.
This conference will therefore focus on two main aspects:
- A state of play of the current research on heteronormativity as a methodological tool: since gender studies were institutionalized by French academics in the 2000s, how have gender and heteronormativity as critical tools influenced research objects? What new objects have emerged or re-emerged?
- An analysis of the methods that have made this emergence possible: where – geographically and disciplinarily speaking – do the methods that take heteronormativity into account come from? How do transdisciplinary approaches (especially those coming from social sciences) fit into gender studies? Do methodological considerations vary depending on the sources at stake? How do these methodological differences come to light?
Lines of research
- A theoretical reflection on the epistemological stakes of studying the concept of heteronormativity in social sciences, on its pros and cons in the analysis of sources, on how convergent or divergent it can be with other areas of gender studies.
- A questioning of the methodological tools needed to comprehend heteronormativity in sources, depending on the nature of the sources and on the field of research they belong to, in an interdisciplinary approach.
- A comparison between the different critical approaches to heteronormativity, in order to account for the diversity, the discrepancies or the differences between methods and methodologies in various geographical areas.
- A reevaluation of the concept of heteronormativity according to its political and theoretical frameworks, in order to avoid any anachronistic analysis as well as to question the epistemological integration of such a concept.
- A recension on a recent scientific publication renewing the methodological approach to heteronormativity. Such a proposal should be part of a general bibliographic reflection, putting forth how the concept has evolved in the different scientific fields.
Contribution modalities
- Hold a master’s degree (M2 equivalent) or be in the process of earning it, or be a PhD candidate: this conference aims at creating a space for young scholars to discuss their research.
- Send a short abstract (300-400 words), focusing either on the aspects aforementioned or on a recently published scientific work dealing with the same aspects.
- Send a short biography mentioning the name of their university and their research unit, their level of study, their research object as well as anything they would have published.
- Write their proposition in English or in
Participants wishing to apply to communicate in pairs are welcome, especially if their communication includes an interdisciplinary or international perspective.
Propositions should be sent no later than December 1st 2023 to seminaireallhis2024@gmail.com
All propositions will be answered by December 15th, 2023.
The conference will take place between April 15th and April 19th 2024 (precise date to be announced) at Université Jean Monnet, Saint-Étienne.
Papers from the conference will be considered for publication before the end of 2025.
Scientific committee
- Adrien Bresson, doctoral student in Latin language and literature at Université de Lyon–Saint-Étienne (HISOMA).
- Noémie Cadeau, doctoral student in comparative literatures at Université de Lyon–Saint-Étienne (ECCLA).
- Blandine Demotz, doctoral student in English literature at CY Cergy-Paris Université (Héritages).
- Jonathan Raffin, doctoral student in Roman history at Université de Poitiers (HeRMA).
Bibliography
- CLAIR Isabelle, « Le pédé, la pute et l’ordre hétérosexuel. », Agora débats/jeunesses, n°60, 2012, p. 67-78.
- DESCOUTURES Virginie, « Le cadre hétéronormatif », dans Les mères lesbiennes, Virginie DESCOUTURES (dir.), Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 2010, p. 59-84.
- JACKSON Stevi, « Genre, sexualité et hétérosexualité : la complexité (et les limites) de l’hétéronormativité », Nouvelles Questions Féministes, Vol. 34, 2015, p. 64-81.
- KATZ Jonathan, L’invention de l’hétérosexualité, Paris, Epel, 2001.
- RICH Adrienne, « Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence », Signs, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1980, p. 631-660.
- BOEHRINGER Sandra & SEBILLOTTE-CUCHET Violaine (dir.), Hommes et femmes dans l’Antiquité grecque et romaine. Le Genre : méthode et documents, Paris, Colin, 2011.
- SCOTT Joan & VARIKAS Éléni, « Genre : Une catégorie utile d'analyse historique. », Les Cahiers du GRIF, No. 37-38, 1988, p. 125-153.
- TIN Louis-Georges, L’invention de la culture hétérosexuelle, Paris, Autrement, 2008.
- WARNER Michael, « Introduction: Fear of a Queer Planet », Social Text, No. 29, 1991, p. 3-17.
- WITTIG Monique, « La pensée straight », Questions Féministes, No. 7, 1980, p. 45-53.
Notes
[1] Offenstadt Nicolas (dir.), Les mots de l’historien, Toulouse, Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 2009, p. 105.
[2] Lisa, Disch, Mary Hawkesworth (dir.), The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2015, p. 385–406.
[3] Vulca, Fidolini, « L’hétéronormativité », Manuel indocile de sciences sociales, 2019, p. 798-804.
[4] Natacha, Chetcuti., « Hétéronormativité et hétérosocialité », Raison présente, n°183, « Sexualités, normativités », 2012, p. 69-77.
Subjects
- Epistemology and methodology (Main category)
- Society > Sociology
- Mind and language > Thought
- Society > Ethnology, anthropology
- Society > History
- Mind and language > Representation
Places
- Saint-Étienne, France (42)
Event attendance modalities
Full on-site event
Date(s)
- Friday, December 01, 2023
Keywords
- genre, hétéronormativité, sources, méthode,
Information source
- Adrien Bresson
courriel : seminaireallhis2025 [at] gmail [dot] com
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Methodological approaches to gender and heteronormativity in sources », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, https://doi.org/10.58079/1btm
