“‘To be unable to dissimulate is to be unable to live’: The ‘Body Politic’ and Gender Trouble of a Swedish Queen”, by Professor Jonas Liliequist (CHE/Umeå University)

Date: Wednesday, 7 October, 2015
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: Arts Lecture Room 5 (G.61, Ground Floor, Arts Building), UWA.
RSVP: All Welcome! No need to RSVP – just come along.

‘In her day, Queen Christina (1626-89) was regarded as exceptional and scandalous by turns, from her unfeminine demeanor and libertine ideals to her refusal to marry, abdication of the throne and conversion to Catholicism in 1654. At the same time, Christina was also very much a child of her time. Starting with learned discussions and doctrines about female rulers, this presentation takes a closer look at Christina in the broader light of central themes in popular and scholarly culture, including crossdressing and role-playing, dissimulation and imposture, hermaphroditism and female masculinity.’

Professor Liliequist is an International Partner Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions. His research focuses on love, sexuality, honour and shame in early modern Europe; and includes the dynamics of family emotions in 17th-18th century Sweden. For more info, see: http://www.umu.se/sok/english/staff-directory/?uid=joli0002&guise=anst2