Since its inception in 1764, the Gothic has kept its women in a state of childhood - trembling, fragile, locked in nurseries or crypts and waiting to be saved. Writers have tried a few escape routes: kill the child-woman off, swap her for a man, or replace her with the girlboss who deftly outwits her captor. This session charts a different path, one that starts with Angela Carter, and stays inside the infantile body until it becomes monstrous.
Two halves, as always. First we read and argue, with Kristeva, Creed and Carter. Then everyone writes an infantile body, and makes it revolting.
No prior reading needed.
Lead by Scholar RACHAEL HEAD - cultural producer and an award-winning PhD candidate of the Manchester Centre for Gothic studies, whose work explores the monstrous feminine. She holds a distinction MA in Gothic Studies where she coined the term ‘abject infantilisation’. She also produces theatre and events for global arts organisations and charities, including the Royal Society of Arts, Shakespeare's Globe, and Penguin Random House. Rachael is currently working on her AHRC-funded PhD on the cultural infantilisation of women in Gothic fiction and film.
Welcome to GAY SCHOOL - where we break the rules of who gets to learn, share, and play. A wild, joyful classroom where we learn, unlearn, and dream up together.
Each session, a bunch of master's students/graduates crack open the dusty vault of queer and feminist theory sharing ideas that aren't just fascinating, but fuel for liberation, community-building and collective joy. We're here to make theory feel alive, urgent, and for everyone. Expect heart-stirring concepts and politics that spark action, all shared in ways that are playful, accessible, and full of feeling.
In collaboration with ANTIUNIVERSITY NOW - an experiment to challenge institutionalised education, access to learning and the mechanism of knowledge creation and distribution.
Initiated in 2015, Antiuniversity Now was set up to reignite the 1968 Antiuniversity of London with the intention to challenge academic and class hierarchy and the exclusivity of the £9K-a-year-degree by inviting people to organise and share learning events in public spaces all over the country.