WIAS Visiting Scholar Seminar: Dr. BLOOMFIELD, Jacob “An Introduction to the History of British Drag Performance”
Speaker
BLOOMFIELD, Jacob（Zukunftskolleg Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Konstanz, Germany)
Jacob Bloomfield is a Zukunftskolleg Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Konstanz, an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent, and a Visiting Scholar at the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study. His research is situated primarily in the fields of Cultural History, the History of Sexuality, and Gender History. Jacob is the author of Drag: A British History (University of California Press, 2023). His second monograph will be about the historical reception to, and cultural impact of, musician Little Richard.
Moderator: KASAI, Amane（Assistant Professor, Waseda Institute for Advanced Study）
Outline
‘An Introduction to the History of British Drag Performance’ provides an overview of the sustained popularity and changing forms of male drag performance in modern Britain. Jacob Bloomfield’s research provides fresh perspectives on drag and recovers previously neglected episodes in the history of the art form. Despite its transgressive associations, drag has persisted as an intrinsic, and common, part of British popular culture – drag artists have consistently asserted themselves as some of the most renowned and significant entertainers of their day. As Bloomfield demonstrates, drag was also at the center of public discussions around gender and sexuality in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Victorian sex scandals to the ‘permissive society’ of the 1960s. Bloomfield demythologises drag, stressing its ordinariness while affirming its important place in British cultural heritage.
Date & Time
January 18 (Wed) 2023, 10:00 – 11:30
Venue
Waseda University, Waseda Campus, Building 19 Room 310 (3rd floor)
Language
English
Prospected Audience
Undergraduate, Graduate, Faculty member
Organizer
Waseda Institute for Advanced Study
