Eva K Nossem

Seit ihrer weltweiten Ausbreitung seit Anfang 2020 hat die Corona-Pandemie auch sprachliche (Neu-)Entwicklungen vorangetrieben. Neben der erwartbaren Aufnahme einer Reihe fachsprachlicher Termini in die Allgemeinsprache haben sich auch ein regelrechter "Corona-Wortschatz" und "Corona-Diskurse" herausgebildet. Sowohl auf lexikalischer als auch auf diskursiver Ebene lassen sich dabei eine Vielzahl von Ab-, Aus-und Begrenzungsmechanismen beobachten, die sich als linguistische (Re-)Bordering-Praktiken fassen lassen. Solche sprachlichen Grenzziehungen reichen von (Neu-)Benennungen des Corona-Virus und der Covid-19-Erkrankung über Personenbezeichnungen im Kontext der Pandemie mit einhergehenden Klassifizierungs-und Kategorisierungsprozessen bis hin zum ausgeprägten Einsatz bestimmter Metaphoriken und sprachlicher Positionierungen und Perspektivierungen. Über eine rein deskriptive Betrachtung und Sammlung der lexikologischen Entwicklungen hinaus ist eine weiterreichende kritische Auseinandersetzung erforderlich. Dieser Beitrag bietet im Folgenden einen ersten Einblick in die Vielfalt der Untersuchungsmöglichkeiten, die der diskurshistorische Ansatz von Wodak in seiner Anwendung auf Corona-Diskurse liefern kann.

In current times, the coronavirus is spreading and taking its toll all over the world. Inspite of having developed into a global pandemic, COVID-19 is oftentimes met with local national(ist) reactions. Many states pursue isolationist politics by closing and enforcing borders and by focusing entirely on their own functioning in this moment of crisis. This nationalist/nationally-oriented rebordering politics goes hand in hand with what might be termed ‘linguistic rebordering,’ i.e. the attempts of constructing the disease as something foreign-grown and by apportioning the blame to ‘the other.’ This paper aims at laying bare the interconnectedness of these geopolitical and linguistic/discursive rebordering politics. It questions their efficacy and makes a plea for cross-border solidarity.

This  paper  aims at  examining  the  reception,(g)localization,  and  also  (re)creation  of  different  forms  of “queer” in the Italian context. First, I conduct a semasiological analysis of the diachronic semantic and connotative development  of  the  English-turned-global “queer” in order to provide a detailed  insight  into  its  palimpsestic meaning.  The  offensive  qualities  of  the  slur,  I  argue,  provide  the  aggressive  power  required  for  self-definition  in queer activism. In a next step, I examine the entry of “queer” into the Italian lexicon from a queer lexicographical and  lexicological  perspective.  Lastly,  adopting  an  onomasiological  approach,  selected  emerging  local  Italian alternatives to the adopted and adapted English “queers” are presented, specifically frocioand frocia, femminiellə, and ricchione. My analysis focuses on the Italian linguistic and cultural context not as a passive recipient but brings to light its active and productive role in creating (g)localized “queers” by reappropriating and resignifying pre-existing local terms.  It  shows  the  interplay  between  the  English  and  Italian  “queers”  and  their  alternatives,  outlining  their locatedness  on  a  global  to  local  scale,  while  at  the  same  time  unraveling  their  interconnectedness  and  their interdependencies.

Eva Nossem calls for the development of a queer approach in the area of lexicography. She begins by challenging the popular notion of an objective, purely descriptive lexicography, and discusses the social norms and values underpinning lexicographical work. In line with Foucault, she assigns a discursive function to lexicographers, through which they play an active role in the production of knowledge. In bilingual dictionaries, the heteronormative ideas conveyed are further exacerbated by requirements of equivalence. Nossem advocates for an anti-normative approach and seeks to lay the foundations for a queer lexicography that establishes the very conditions of possibility for a queer translation practice.
(Baer, Brian James and Klaus Kaindl: "Introduction: Queer(ing) Translation)

This paper aims at bringing together queer approaches and lexicography, i.e. a critical heteronormativity research within the field of theoretical lexicography and practical dictionary making. The analysis focuses on power and authority in dictionaries. Power and authority do not only influence the process of dictionary making but are also produced by the dictionaries themselves. The author supports these theoretical reflections with practical examples taken from existing dictionaries. Furthermore, she outlines the influence of heteronormative power structures and refutes the dictionaries’ alleged objectivity. - See more at: http://www.gendersexualityitaly.com/potere-e-autorita/#sthash.GvijF8RJ.dpuf

In this paper I outline verbal humor and irony in LGBTIQ designations, i.e. in name giving among and by LGBTIQ+ persons and also terms about them. My analysis focuses on personal nouns used in a humorous way both for LGBTIQ+ persons and straight/heterosexual persons, both used within LGBTIQ+ communities to refer to other group members or to outgroup persons and also used in heterosexual/heterosexist/homophobic discourse. I examine instances which are structured by heteronormativity as well as cases in which heteronormative thinking is overcome or deconstructed, in which humorous personal nouns are used for exclusion and serve as markers of otherness. Also aiming to identify who is targeted and in what ways humorous designations are used to downplay persons, I outline similarities and differences between humorous personal nouns used in heterosexist/heteronormative discourses and those used within LGBTIQ+ communities. The aim of this paper is to show how the humorous aspect of such personal nouns is constructed and what role it plays in transmitting and understanding certain semantic aspects.

Wie sprechen wir über Menschen, die nicht den heteronormativen Vorstellungen „Mann-Frau, heterosexuell“ entsprechen? Die Sprache liefert uns Vorschläge, aber was genau bezeichnen diese eigentlich und wie sind sie zu verstehen?
Ein Blick auf diese Bezeichnungen macht deutlich, wie Sprache und gesellschaftliche Wahrnehmung sich gegenseitig beeinflussen.
Nicht nur die Bezeichnungen verändern sich im Laufe der Zeit. Es entstehen immer neue Bezeichnungen und vorhandene Bezeichnungen unterliegen einem Bedeutungswandel. Aber auch die bezeichnete Realität selbst ist keine starre Einheit.
Nach Betrachtung des sprachlichen Repertoires ist zu überlegen, ob ausreichende sprachliche Möglichkeiten vorliegen oder ob Lücken offen bleiben und was die verwendeten Bezeichnungen bzgl. der Wahrnehmung und Wertung von Nicht-Heteronormativität aussagen.

Wörterbücher bilden Sprache ab, mit dem Anspruch einer objektiven Darstellung der dadurch widergespiegelten Welt. Doch sind solche Wortschatzsammlungen tatsächlich so objektiv beschreibend, wie sie vorgeben - bzw. können sie es überhaupt sein? Eva Nossemwirft einen kritischen Blick hinter die "Instanz" Wörterbuch.

Dienstleistungen rund um Sprache sind ein boomender Markt, mit immensem Volumen. Der Kuchen zwischen den „Language Service Providers“ (LSP) und Freiberuflern jedoch ist ungleich verteilt, die Rollenzuweisung von Opfern und Ausbeutern ein (gut gepäppeltes) Klischee. Unternehmen wie das junge Lingotransfair gehen dagegen an und und setzen auf kooperative, nachhaltige Lösungen. Eva Nossem und Myriam Caminiti über die Entstehung ihres Unternehmensmodells.

The dualism of debordering and rebordering has dominated European policies since the very beginnings of the EEC/EU in 1957 (cf. Yndigegn : 47). Increasing rebordering tendencies and the construction of the so-called ‘Fortress Europe’ primarily affect the outer borders of the EU, such as the liquid border in the South. An estimate of 15 to 20,000 people have lost their lives attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in the last five years, turning it into the world’s deadliest border.
With the knowledge of these fabricated tragedies, a tug of war has been going on in EU (and European national) politics between efforts of securitization and humanitarianism/humanitarianization. “[W]ith with Mediterranean crossings becoming a matter of life and death […], irregular crossers are not only classed as threats, but also as victims to be ‘saved’” (Moreno-Lax 2017: 4).
Since the EU has scaled down maritime patrols to rescue migrants on the perilous crossing, this task has now been taken on by private sea rescue operations. In politics as well as in (social) media, news reports about rescuing operations quickly transform into raging debates between supporters and representatives of pro- and anti-immigration policies. The already heated debates about sea rescue operations seem to escalate further when the category of gender is added to this conundrum.
In my talk I will provide a critical analysis of the Italian news coverage and social media discourses about Carola Rackete and Pia Klemp, captains of the Sea Watch 3, who dominated the news in the summer 2019 with their rescue operations, arrest and release, public honors and refusals, and all associated polemics. Fights over gender domination, I argue, as well as the Mediterranean Sea as a site of border making and breaking play a key role in the discursive production of the two capitane  either as saints, saviors, or smugglers.

While the North is often connected to modernity and progress, the South is discursively constructed as backward; the North is seen as the land of liberty and freedom, also in terms of LGBT rights, as the place of education and civilization whereas the South often functions as its uncivilized counterpart. As such, the South does not only represent a non-desirable neighbor but also a threat to the North, especially as the world is moving closer together because of globalization and migration. Racist discourses construct the Southern migrant as a backward, uncivilized invader who poses a threat to the North and from which the North needs to be protected. These discourses can be found both in the U.S.-American and the European/Italian context. One of the countless examples for the construction of this image of the Southern migrant is President Trump’s infamous speech about Mexicans as rapists, drug dealers, and so on. Right-wing parties in both Europe and the U.S. make also use of homonationalist discourses to instigate hate against immigrants from the South and construct them as dangerous intruders who come with the aim of destroying the liberal, progressive North-Western society.
In our paper, we will look at queer (im)migrants in the global Southern borderlands. As non-citizens, immigrants, especially those with no official legal status, lack basic civil rights both in the EU and the U.S.; they become invisible and thus lose their existence. As Luibhéid (2008) observes: “Most scholarship, policymaking, service provision, activism, and cultural work remain organized around the premise that migrants are heterosexuals (or on their way to becoming so) and queers are citizens (even though second-class ones).” Queer migrants thus face further marginalization not only from the Northern society but also from their heterosexual fellow migrant community. Consequently, there arises an urgent need for queer migrants to form alliances and build coalitions in order to become visible, regain their existence, and locate themselves on the map.
Italy assumes a particular role in the context of migration: For many immigrants, Italy is the country of arrival, for others a place of transit, and again for others, for many Italians themselves, the country of departure. Also Italy’s oscillating role between North and South, both due its geographical location on the European Union’s external border and also because of its internal regionalism and North-South divide, deserves particular attention. With President Trump’s threats to build a wall, the U.S.-Mexican borderlands have received renewed attention. While the situation of queer Chican@s and migration is currently at the center of heated debates, research on issues of queer migration in Europe is still scarce. As summed up by Richardson, among others, “questions of nationalism and national border making connected with ideas about modernity and tolerance” and the constitution of “neo-orientalist and colonial practices“ are analyzed under the topic of ‘sexual citizenship’ (2017, 209). Looking at some selected cultural examples which situate the constructions of sexual and queer identities within global processes of globalization, capitalism, and nationalism, we want to juxtapose activities by U.S.- and Europe-based activist groups to outline their fight against oppression through different and shared forms of coalition building.

Milioni di persone fuggono dai loro paesi per vari motivi, tra cui razzismo, persecuzione dovuta all’appartenenza etnica, discriminazione e violenza a causa di sessualità ed espressione di genere. Per molti migranti, l’Italia è il paese d’arrivo, per altri un luogo di transito, e per altri ancora il punto di partenza. Rifugio per alcuni, luogo di condizioni sfavorevoli da cui fuggire per altri—questi ruoli diversi che l’Italia assume danno origine ad una serie di discorsi sulla migrazione e sui migranti.
In questo talk affronterò alcuni temi della migrazione queer concentrandomi in particolare sul ruolo oscillante dell’Italia fra Nord e Sud, dovuto alla sua posizione geografica situata alla frontiera esterna dell’Unione Europea e al divario interno fra Nord e Sud.
Mentre l’Europa, particolarmente il Nord-Ovest, è diventato un significante per modernità, politiche sessuali liberali e ‘civilizzazione’, il Sud sta per ‘arretratezza’ e limiti al progresso italiano. L’Italia vacilla fra aspirazione alla modernità europea e battaglie contro l’arretratezza interna e ‘immigrata’ che “potrebbe mettere a rischio diritti e libertà non ancora ottenuti ma in vista” (Colpani 2014). Questi presunti pericoli si rispecchiano in costruzioni discorsive sul ‘non-settentrionale arretrato’, inteso come ‘extracomunitario’ e ‘clandestino’ nel caso di migranti non-europei, o come ‘terrone’ per persone del Sud dell’Italia.
La consapevolezza della discriminazione intersezionale di persone LGBTQ e di non-settentrionali ha portato alla formazione dei primi gruppi per migranti LGBTQ nel Mezzogiorno che si impegnano a creare discorsi alternativi riappropriandosi per esempio dell’offesa ‘terrone” (cf. Baldo 2017) e dando al Sud una voce.

This paper deals with the relation of borders and queer identities, bodies, sexualities and the politics of (dis-)location in Germany, Ukraine and the U.S. From the porous interior boundaries of the Schengen space, the mass migration crisis challenging the external limits of the European Union, the post-soviet military conflict zones in Ukraine, to the militarization of the U.S.-Mexican border, it seems as if borders were being challenged everywhere at the current moment. With these problems the ideals of democracy and civil society have also come under fire. As borders change and the securitization of territories transforms and increases, so changes the control of the population and the bodies of citizens. In our paper, we would like to address the question of how the securitization of borders and acts of forced migration shape queer identities, bodies, sexualities and politics. Looking at some selected cultural examples which situate the constructions of sexual and queer identities within global processes of globalization, capitalism, and nationalism, we aim to explore how the formation of coalitional politics can shift the politics of dislocation to a politics of relocation. Starting from the intersections of queer and undocumented identities and experiences as manifested in the artwork of Julio Salgado (especially his " I Am Undocuqueer! " series, a collaborative project between Salgado and community activist groups such as the Undocumented Queer Youth Collective and the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project in the U.S.), we want to look at the activities of the Germany-founded activist group " Queer Refugees for Pride " and " The Contact Group Munich Kiev Queer. " " Solidarity has no boundaries " – this is how the website of the Munich Kiev Queer titles their fight for global solidarity (see http://www.munichkievqueer.org/home/). Looking into the relations between bodies and borders and the different ways in which these groups attempt to develop new (re-) configurations of corpo-realities, we will also show how advocating for a global and embodied citizenship presents new forms of coalitional activism that in attempting to challenge current anti-immigration policies exposes the limits of solidarity. This paper therefore responds to academic gaps and social needs, attempting to broaden existing academic conceptualizations of the relations between queerness and borders, and presenting some tools which are necessary to respond to the urgent problematics arising out of these relations and their increasingly accelerating transformations (e.g. refugees who identify as LGBTIQ+).

Translanguaging the Borderlands: Theorizing the Multilingual Literacies of the New Mestiza


“How to Tame a Wild Tongue”: Translanguaging the Borderlands
Astrid M. Fellner and Eva Nossem

Since its publication in 1987, Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands has become one of the most widely read multicultural texts in American universities. It has sparked a watershed of ‘border’ criticism in feminist theory, particularly women of color feminism, as well as in cultural studies and American studies. Anzaldúa’s border theory emerged from the historical specificity of the boundary region of la frontera, the border culture between the United States and Mexico. Relying on the concept of translanguaging (cf. Garcia 2009, 2011; Fuller 2013) and other concepts in multilingualism research, we want to analyze Anzaldúa’s diverse translingual strategies, showing in what ways Borderlands provides a useful way of conceptualizing the increasingly difficult realities of transnational experiences in global times that necessitate a pluralistic orientation to languaging. A champion of linguistic mestizaje, Anzaldúa creates the figure of the new Mestiza, who “copes by developing a tolerance for contradictions, a tolerance for ambiguity … She has a plural personality, she operates in a pluralistic mode” (79). She is a multi- and translingual figuration whose consciousness helps structure the linguistic geographies of the borderlands. In the section “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Anzaldúa employs the radicalims of her translingualism by refusing to cross over into her other linguistic identities, preserving the power of her multiple linguistic locations. The text, as we will show, moves across linguistic boundaries and subverts binary structure, constituting a powerful queer translanguaging practice.

Talk at the Translating Queer Historicities. University of London (June 23rd, 2017)

L’oggetto del presente paper è l’esame della ricezione del queer in Italia. Piuttosto che concentrarsi sulla ricezione e la diffusione degli studi queer o delle teorie queer nel contesto accademico italiano, il presente paper si concentrerà sull’uso e sulla diffusione della parola queer nel contesto accademico e/o attivista italiano.
Da un lato viene esaminato quando, come, in quali contesti, in quale forma e con quale potenziale semantico-connotativo, la stessa parola queer ha trovato accesso nel mondo italofono. L’analisi tenta di mostrare quali aspetti semantici e connotativi questo queer di origine inglese-statunitense si è portato dietro nel suo viaggio transatlantico. Un paragone del queer inglese US-americano con quello italiano mostra che esso ha intrapreso il suo viaggio verso l’Italia con bagaglio leggero. Viene mostrato quali aspetti semantici e connotativi sono andati persi nel transito e come il potenziale semantico si è limitato, o meglio trasformato.
Piuttosto che investigare soltanto la prospettiva unilaterale e unidirezionale analizzando come e fino a che punto il queer statunitense ha influenzato il contesto italiano, questo paper si dà l’obiettivo di esplorare quali forme di queer si sono sviluppate e se esse sono specifiche per il contesto italiano. In tal modo, il contesto italiano e la lingua italiana non vengono più visti come passivi riceventi degli influssi inglesi-statunitensi, ma assumono un ruolo attivo e produttivo. In questo contesto è interessante investigare come il queer si è fatto strada in certi discorsi italiani, come è stato fatto proprio, e soprattutto quale altre forme e altre parole si sono sviluppate al suo posto in Italia.
Di particolar interesse in questo senso è la parola frocia, che pare diffondersi sempre di più nel contesto accademico-attivista italiano. Si può considerare frocia come un calco dal queer inglese-statunitense; si potrebbe anche considerare frocia come una traduzione di queer, o si potrebbe considerare frocia come una versione localizzata italiana del queer statunitense. Oppure si potrebbe interpretare frocia come un nuovo concetto specifico italiano, piuttosto che un’adattazione, un’appropriazione del queer inglese nel contesto italiano, una specie di post-queer territorializzato. Mettendo in relazione e confrontando queer e frocia, questo paper porta alla luce i loro rispettivi punti forti e deboli, e mostra le caratteristiche processuali, non stabili e non identitari di entrambi.

Talk at the Intersections 2017: Queer / Migration / Legality. Saarland University (June 17th, 2017)

Relying on the concept of translanguaging (cf. Fuller 2013) I analyze the diverse multilingual strategies employed by Yosimar Reyes, a self-proclaimed “two-spirit gangsta” poet, performance artist, and activist born in Mexico and raised (as undocumented) in California, in his construction of non-Western Queerness. According to García (2010), translanguaging breaks up the strict connection  between language and ethnicity and allows for a “more fluid positioning of identity”. It “creates a social space for the multilingual language user by bringing together different dimensions of their personal history, experience and environment,  their attitude,  belief and  ideology, their cognitive and physical capacity into one coordinated and  meaningful  performance, and making it into a lived experience” (Li 2011: 1223). I  examine  how,  by crossing language barriers between English and Spanish through translanguaging, Reyes deploys multilingual resources in his work to overcome limiting cultural and linguistic monocentricity, to construct contemporaneously non-Western, Global South, and Indigenous Queer  identities, and to deconstruct and distinguish himself from global gayness and homonormativity. For my analysis, I carve out important lexical fields and their relation to translanguaging in Yosimar Reyes’ poems “For Colored Boys Who Speak Softly” and “Pride.”

References
Reyes,  Yosimar:  “For  Colored  Boys  Who  Speak  Softly.”
https://vimeo.com/3400169;
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxtY2xsMjMwMXxneDoxNTc3YmEzZGE4ZTBmNjll (accessed 20/05/2017)
Reyes, Yosimar: “Pride.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGFIOVLWgHE;
http://yosimarreyes.com/poetry/; (accessed 20/05/2017)
Fuller,  Janet  M.  2013. Spanish  Speakers  in  the  USA.  Bristol, Tonawanda, Ontario: Multilingual Matters.
García, O. 2010. “Languaging and Ethnifying.“ J.A. Fishman and O. García (eds): Language & Ethnic Identity Vol. 1: Disciplinary &  Regional  Perspectives,  2nd ed. Oxford:  Oxford  University Press. 519-534.
Li, Wei. 2011. “Moment Analysis and Translanguaging Space: Discursive  Construction  of  Identity  by Multilingual  Chinese Youth in Britain.” Multilingual Structures and Agencies 43 (5), 1222-1235.

Talk at the Lavender Languages & Linguistics 24. University of Nottingham (April 30th, 2017)

In this paper, I aim to bring together queer approaches and lexicography, i.e. a critical heteronormativity research within the field of theoretical lexicography and practical dictionary making. I will draw the attention to the queering potential of lexicography and focus on dictionaries, which commonly enjoy the status of “objective”, often unquestioned authorities. My analysis will show how heteronormative discourses are reflected in dictionaries and will critically question the lexicographer’s normative work and role. I will shed light on oppositions and contradictions in the field of dictionaries and dictionary making. I will elaborate on how expectations and claims made towards dictionaries, both by dictionary users and by lexicographers, can be mutually dependent but partially also contradict each other. The argumentation will show how these claims and expectations are influenced and determined by norms. These norms can be of lexicographic or linguistic nature, as for example good practices in lexicography, spelling and grammar rules, and many more. Though often neglected and hardly ever explicitly mentioned, social norms also play a highly influential role in the processes of dictionary making. In this sense, I outline the influence of heteronormative power structures and refute the dictionaries’ alleged objectivity. In my analysis, I will pay attention to the role dictionaries play as reference works and as authoritative sources in the production of knowledge and power. Power and authority do not only influence lexicographical decisions but are also produced by the dictionaries themselves. My theoretical reflections are supported by practical examples taken from existing dictionaries.

Talk at the 10th BAAL Language, Gender and Sexuality SIG Meeting Language, Discrimination and Conflict. University of Nottingham (April 27th, 2017)

In this paper, I aim to outline correlations between dictionaries and discrimination. By examining various dictionaries and their historical developments, I will draw the attention to how words, especially labels, referring to so-called “minorities”, i.e. social macro-categories as women, LGBTIQ* persons, etc. have been lexicographed. Also in dictionaries, discriminating discourses can be found, for example, in terms of discriminating style or even in the form of silencing non-dominant voices. Thus it is my aim to show how dictionaries not only reflect, but also (re)produce and reinforce dominant discourses. As both a producer and a product of the dominant discourse, dictionaries mirror and promote social and cultural changes and can contribute significantly the production or elimination of violent and discriminatory discourses in society. Considering this role and weight of the dictionary, the attention shifts to the lexicographer, its producer. Even though some lexicographers rose to fame thanks to their creations, as e.g. Noah Webster or Samuel Johnson, many other remain invisible. But, I argue, the lexicographer is not so much a “harmless drudge” as Johnson himself wanted to make us believe, but the producer of a powerful, authoritative tool. It is the lexicographer who has the power to (re)produce and strengthen or to modify discourses, and hence to reinforce or dismantle discriminatory and violent discourses. Lexicographers can wield influence on a subtle level by promoting their point of view under the guise of “common sense”, or explicitly take a stance and elucidate their positionality and take a stance against violence and discrimination and for a more inclusive and language (use) and a fair society. I argue for a queering of lexicography in order to bring to light the possibilities and limits of lexicographers and dictionary making.

Talk at the IGALA9: Time and Transition Conference, City University of Hong Kong (May 20th, 2016)

The  impressive  success  of  ‘queer’’s  career  is  due  to  its 
experiences in traveling and transitioning, both over time and
space.  In  its  time  travels  within  the  English  language,  it  has 
adopted  a  considerable  range  of  meanings  and  connotations, 
from  the  original  pejorative  aspect  to  a  proud  self-definition. 
New meanings and connotations, rather than substituting prior
ones, have added up to the semantic content, thus opening up
‘queer’’s enormous semantic potential. However ‘queer’’s career
paths do not only move in temporal directions, they also reach
beyond linguistic borders, thus I will argue that also for ‘queer’
time and space are relate

@ Queering Translation - Translating the Queer Conference
27 March 2015
Centre for Translation Studies
University of Vienna

In this paper, I would like to draw the attention to the Queering potential of lexicography and to try to shed light on heteronormative traits and traps in this field.

In cooperation with the German-American Institute Saarland, the Chair of North American Literary and Cultural Studies (NamLitCult) at Saarland University (UdS) will hold its annual UdS American Studies Graduate Forum (ASGF) that invites advanced Master students, doctoral candidates, as well as junior scholars to present their current work-in-progress in a workshop-style setting. This year's UdS American Studies Graduate Forum will be integrated into the Seminar Border Studies 2023 "Borders in Crisis," organized by the UniGR-Center for Border Studies at Saarland University, and the VW-project "Borders in Crisis." The ASGF will offer participants a chance to discuss their research with peers as well as with more advanced scholars. This year, we invite submissions dealing with the construction, representation, and assessment of borders in crisis.

This UniGR-CBS Seminar Border Studies 2023 “Borders in Global Crisis” is proud to host the annual UdS American Studies Graduate Forum 2023 as well as the concluding presentation of the Volkswagen-funded research project “Borders in Crisis.” The ASGF2023, organized by the Chair of North American Literary and Cultural Studies (NamLitCult) at Saarland University (UdS) in cooperation with the German-American Institute Saarland, offers participants a chance to present their current work-in-progress in a workshop-style setting and to discuss their research in a group of peers.
This year, we invite submissions dealing with the construction, representation, and assessment of borders in crisis.
Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted by April 6, 2023 to amerikanistik@mx.uni-saarland.de. Please include a brief bio (100 words max.).

Conference on the “Renaissance of the Border” on February 4 and 5 with renowned speakers

On February 4 and 5, border scholars from the greater region and far beyond will gather for the “Border Renaissance” conference hosted by the UniGR Center for Border Studies. Questions concerning the (re)emergence of borders, especially in recent pandemic times, are addressed from social science and humanities perspectives. Theoretical scientific approaches are complemented by strong practice-oriented and everyday social perspectives. Opening food for thought will be provided by Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn (Friday 4:00 p.m. CET); the scientific keynote lecture at the intersection of spatial and cultural border studies will be delivered by renowned border researcher Prof. Dr. Victor Konrad of Carleton University in Canada (Saturday 1:30 p.m. CET).

Conférence sur la « Renaissance de la frontière » le 4 et 5 février avec des intervenant.e.s renommé.e.s
Le 4 et 5 février prochain, expertes et experts des frontières viendront discuter à Sarrebruck des questions relatives à la (re)naissance de frontières, pertinentes notamment en ces temps de pandémie. La conférence « Border Renaissance », organisée par l’UniGR-Center for Border Studies en format hybride, abordera le sujet sous l’angle des sciences sociales et culturelles et sera complétée par des exemples pratiques tirés du quotidien sociopolitique.
La conférence sera ouverte par le ministre des Affaires étrangères luxembourgeois, Jean Asselborn (vendredi 4 février à 16h). Pour l’exposé scientifique principal (keynote), intitulé "Border Renaissance in a Time of Border Perplexity ?", la conférence accueillera le professeur Victor Konrad de l'Université de Carleton au Canada (samedi 5 février à 13h30).

Konferenz zum Thema "Renaissance der Grenze" am 4. und 5. Februar mit renommierten Rednern
Über Fragen des (Wieder-)Auflebens von Grenzen, gerade auch in jüngsten pandemischen Zeiten, diskutieren Grenzexpertinnen und-experten am 4. und 5. Februar bei der Konferenz "Border Renaissance" in Saarbrücken und online. Die Hybrid-Veranstaltung, die vom UniGR-Center for Border Studies organisiert wird, betrachtet das Thema aus gesellschafts- und geisteswissenschaftlicher Perspektive – ergänzt durch praktische Beispiele aus dem gesellschaftlichen und politischen Alltag.
Den einleitenden Vortrag hält der luxemburgische Außenminister Jean Asselborn (Freitag, 16.00 Uhr). Den wissenschaftlichen Hauptvortrag liefert der renommierte Grenzforscher Prof. Victor Konrad von der Carleton-Universität in Kanada (Samstag, 13.30 Uhr).

Introtext UniGR-CBS Das UniGR-Center for Border Studies (UniGR-CBS) dient seit seiner Gründung als Modell für grenzüberschreitende Kooperation und stärkt die Rolle der Großregion als Zentrum wissenschaftlicher Exzellenz. Die intensive internationale, interdisziplinäre und interlinguale Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Partner*innen hat die Rolle des UniGR-CBS als Wissen generierende Instanz in einem breiten Feld disziplinärer Hintergründe verdeutlicht, die von der Geographie und der Raumplanung bis zu den Rechts-und Politikwissenschaften sowie zur Linguistik und zu den Literatur-und Kulturwissenschaften reichen.

Since its beginnings, the UniGR-Center for Border Studies (UniGR-CBS) has served as a model for cross-border cooperation, strengthening the location of the Greater Region as a hub of excellence in research. The intensive international, interdisciplinary, and interlingual collaboration of the partners involved has demonstrated the role of the UniGR-CBS as a generator of border knowledge in a vast field of disciplinary backgrounds ranging from geography and spatial planning to law studies and political science as well as to linguistics and literary and cultural studies.

Since the beginning of Border Studies, we have observed a continuously shifting take on the nature, creation, and work of borders. Moving away form an understanding of the border as a static dividing line, recent approaches have focused on the connecting qualities of borders and placed emphasis on border regions as places of encounter, as contact zones (Pratt), as borderlands (Anzaldúa), as (hybrid) spaces/places of in-between as well as and-both. In attempts of carving out some characteristics of borders, research has focused on the mobility, multi-locationality, fluidity, dynamics, and transformability of borders. Theorizations have furthermore broadened the scope of research, moving away from the border as a (mere) research object towards new theoretical/epistemological ways of thinking the border and thinking from and through the border (Brambilla (borderscapes); Mezzadra & Neilson (Border as Method); Mignolo (border thinking); Rumford (seeing like a border); Wille, Fellner, and Nossem (bordertextures)).

In a similar vein, as the shift has occurred from a static understanding of the border to dynamic processes and complex interwoven practices (Wille, Fellner, and Nossem), also research on language has experienced a turn, “treat[ing] language as dynamic and emergent rather than as a reified code” (Baynham & Lee 2020: 15). The widespread turn in the humanities to focus on processuality – emblematically phrased in Street’s famous statement “Culture is verb” (1993) – has not only reached border studies, leading to the change from border to bordering, but has also affected the study of language:

The traditional understanding of ‘language(s)’ as monolithic construct(s) existing independently of communicative use has been rejected […] in favour of conceptualisations of languaging (Becker, 1995) as practical social action that draws on an expansive repertoire of (not only linguistic) semiotic resources […]. (Moore, Bradley, and Simpson 2020: 2).

Language uses that draw on multilingual resources are of particular interest for this volume. We strive to develop the notion of border languaging by introducing the contested spatiality of the border to our analysis of multilingual language practices. We aim at focusing on a (critical) analysis of creative (cf. Wei 2011) multilingual practices evolving at, on, and around the border. The work of the border as a productive site of encounter and of the formation of identities and otherness becomes visible through related language use and linguistic performances. In developing a focus on border languaging, we aim to carve out new understandings of (the use of) communicative resources in relation to the border. Such a situated approach to (multi-/pluri-) linguistic performances helps us move beyond naturalized categories of and in languages; particular focus is placed on border spaces/places as translanguaging spaces (Wei 2011: 1223), spatial repertoires (Pennycook and Otsuji 2015: 9), and life trajectories (Busch 2012).

In examining the interplay of practices of language and borders, contributions from the field of linguistic Border Studies may prove fruitful on different scales, whether e.g. addressing top-down questions of language policy or bottom-up linguistic practices (from below) of everyday interaction, the construction of language borders/boundaries, linguistic dynamics of demarcation, criticism of nativeness, the discursive (re)production and (de)construction of borders, sociolinguistic (cross-)border analyses, or many other takes on every-day, political, and aesthetic linguistic/semiotic practices.

This volume puts a special emphasis on practices involving (multilingual) communicative repertoires which challenge the (Western) ideologies of monolingualism and separate plurilingualism (cf. García & Wei 2014) and related linguistic-semiotic ordering mechanisms. It focuses on how people make use of the communicative resources available to them in and across border spaces/places. In the analyses, emphasis is placed on how linguistic/semiotic and material signifying resources are brought together in activities developing out of or resulting from the border. We invite submissions focusing on societal multilingualism and/or individual plurilingualism in relation to borders, as e.g. on

• Border Languaging as a transgressive practice,
• Critical and creative plurilingual performances at and around borders,
• Interlingual, intralingual, intersemiotic, interdiscursive, and embodied translanguaging (Baynham & Lee 2019) on the border,
• Language ideology and dynamics of exclusion,
• Performance of plurilingual repertoires at the border,
• Language policy and power relations,
• Translingualism, translingual activism (Cronin 2003), translingual practice (Canagarajah 2013, 2014), translanguaging (Garcia and Wei 2014), metrolingualism (Pennycook and Otsuji 2015), translanguageance (Aden & Eschenauer), transmodalities (Hawkins), transglossia (Garcia), etc.
• Multilingualism from below (Pennycook & Otsuji 2015, cf. Cuvelier et al. 2010),
• Translating the border.

Proposals (in English) should be sent to e.nossem@mx.uni-saarland.de by 15 January 2021. Full papers will be due by 30 April 2021.

The proposals should contain the following data:

• Abstract (approx. 300-500 words plus references)
• Bio blurb (max 200 words).

The borders of our time are arguably more complex than ever: on the one hand, they are unstable concepts with shifting meanings, metaphors, and paradigms of thinking; on the other, they are hard facts, fortified geographical shells, hard to penetrate and often deadly. Furthermore, it is safe to say that in our current times of crisis (of democracy), borders have moved to the very heart of heated debates. From the porous interior boundaries of the Schengen space, to the mass migration challenging the external limits of the European Union, to the post-soviet military conflict zone in Ukraine, to the isolationist thrust of Brexit: After a period of de-bordering, we are facing a re-bordering, and the meanings of Europe and the ideals of democracy and civil society they stand for are being challenged.
As borders tighten and close, bodies become increasingly vulnerable, rendering every political crisis a potential humanitarian disaster. This thematic issue will re-think Europe and the Americas through these crises and the challenges they pose. In so doing, it will specifically engage the transformation of European and American body politics in times of austerity, hyper-securitization, protest suppression tactics, and war. By approaching the current European and American crises through the conceptual field of the “border” and considering their impact on biopolitics in the fields of politics, literature, culture, and environmental struggles, this volume will contribute both to a critical analytical delineation of current (dialogic) processes in European and American civil societies and offer impulses towards the formulations of new visions of border conceptualizations and management.
In order to critically engage all these themes, we invite proposals along the following fields of inquiry:

 Border Crises and Populism
 Border Crises and Race, Gender, and Sexuality
 Border Crises and Civil Society
 Border Crises and Trauma
 Border Crises and Environment
 Border Art: Border Crises through Artists’ Eyes

Contributions (5000-8000 words) might address these topics through literary, cultural, linguistic, historical, or social approaches; additional themes may include affect, citizenship, displacement, exile, and geographies.
Please submit a 500-word abstract and brief bio directly to e.nossem@mx.uni-saarland.de by January 31, 2020. Full papers will be due on May 1, 2020.

In our panel we strive to add a linguistic perspective to the conference by focusing on the interplay of borders and orders in conjunction with cultural studies. Seeing languages and borders as both ordering principles and socio-cultural practices, our panel aims to carve out the interwoven functioning mechanisms between languaging and b/orders. In examining the interplay of practices of language and b/orders, contributions from the field of linguistic Border Studies may prove fruitful on different scales, whether e.g. addressing questions of language policy and the construction of language borders/boundaries, linguistic dynamics of demarcation, criticism of nativeness, the discursive (re)production and (de)construction of borders, sociolinguistic (cross-)border analyses, or many other takes on everyday , political, and aesthetic linguistic practices.

This volume addresses the topics of queer, migration, legality, and belonging with a special focus on Queer People of Color and queer migration. Articles should deal with collisions of North/Western and non-North/Western understandings of gender and sexuality as well as gender and sexually non-conforming identities as reasons for discrimination, persecution, and consequently flight. Furthermore, hetero-and homonormativities as well as strategies of pinkwashing and/or straightwashing will be examined and brought to light.
Contributions (5000-8000 words) might address these topics through literary, cultural, linguistic, historical, or social approaches; additional themes may include affect, citizenship, displacement, exile, and geographies.
Please submit a 500-word abstract and brief bio directly to contact@intersections-sb.de by October 31, 2017. Full papers will be due on January 31, 2018.

This proseminar aims at linking Gender/Queer Studies and Linguistics. After clarifying basic concepts in language and gender research (as " queer " and " heteronormativity "), you will learn about the origins and the historical development of Gender and Queer Studies and their contact points to Linguistics. We will look at the rise of Queer Linguistics, a field in which concepts from Queer Theories are transferred to Linguistics, targeting the linguistic manifestation of heteronormativity and, connected with it, binary gender and sexual identity discourses. We will focus on critical heteronormativity research from a linguistic point of view, and we will examine in what ways several linguistic sub-disciplines can be approached from a Gender/Queer Studies' perspective. We will deal with the multidimensional relations between language, gender and sexuality by addressing concrete research issues as the linguistic manifestation of binary (e.g. gender) categories, performativity of linguistic signs, discursive construction of gender and sexual identities, heteronormative patterns in language use, discursive materialization of heteronormativity and gender binarisms, " wounding effects " of heteronormative linguistic forms, etc.

In this proseminar, you learn about lexicography and its main concern, the dictionary (making), from a critical Queer perspective. Starting with the history and traditions of lexicographic practice, we then move on to discuss purposes and functions of dictionaries as well as expectations that are raised when using them. In addition to dealing with possible uses of dictionaries, we also focus on processes involved in the compilation of a dictionary and its macro-and microstructure. You learn about standards and norms as well as ideals and models that influence (the making of) dictionaries. We analyze how dominant discourses are reflected and on what levels heteronormativity plays a role. Critical (hetero)normativity research within lexicography allows us to detect power structures and values that are inherent in dictionaries and that have contributed to their compilation. We will contrast the common idea of dictionaries as neutral and objective authorities to the perspective of dictionaries as products of biased selective and exclusionary processes. You will learn a theoretical framework you can then apply for your own practical work, when, at the end of the term, you can compile your own small dictionary and justify and explain your choices and decisions.

In this proseminar, we will deal with discriminatory language use. We will focus on the linguistic manifestation, production and reproduction of discrimination of diverse identity categories in public and private discourse. The identity categories we examine will cover a broad range from race/ethnicity to nationality and place of origin, religion, sex/gender, sexuality, job/profession, ability, physical features, class, and so on. We will deal with the discursive construction of identities, both from the outside as labeling and from within, i.e. as self-definition. We will look at discriminatory, derogatory, and offensive labelling in the form of slurs, name-calling, and discriminatory language use, and then move on to finding ways of avoiding discriminatory terms and structures. We will discover how silence is created on some issues, and then we will examine and elaborate on strategies ad guidelines on how to finally overcome these deficits by applying inclusive, fair language.

In this proseminar, we will analyze a variety of different but intertwined aspects of gender in the English language. In our analysis, we will distinguish between grammatical, lexical, referential, and social gender. Briefly looking at the loss of grammatical gender in English, we will discover that the lack of grammatical gender in a language does not mean that " gender " in the broader sense cannot be communicated. We will examine the ways in which gender can be expressed in English today and investigate how pronominalization is used as a powerful strategy of communicating gender. Our analysis will also focus on nouns that are, in contrast to the great majority of human nouns in English, formally marked for lexical gender, and we will analyze how this gender marking morphologically takes place. We will discuss cases in which this gender marking leads to semantic derogation. Gendered and non-gendered forms of address and their usage are also part of our analysis. We will deal with false generics as well as with gender-related structures and messages, analyzing areas of implicit discursive negotiation of gender such as metaphors and proverbs. Furthermore, we will search for possibilities of expressing non-binary genders in English and also for ways of excluding gender from language, i.e. of formulating in gender-neutral ways. We will conclude by working our way towards a gender-fair use of language.

This seminar is situated in the broad field of sociolinguistics, i.e. the study of the social uses of language, drawing also on the theories of Gender Studies. As Fishman put it, sociolinguistics deals with “who speaks (or writes) what language (or what language variety) to whom and when and to what end” (1972: 46). This seminar will provide an introduction to studying the relationship between language and society. We will trace the development of three waves of sociolinguistics, with the first wave establishing “broad correlations between linguistic variables and the macrosociological categories of socioeconomic class, sex, class, ethnicity, and age” (Eckert 2012: 87). The second wave applied ethnographic methods to investigate the local categories that lead to or constitute the macro‐ social categories. Finally, the third wave sees the variation as a social semiotic system, which constructs social meaning rather than reflecting it.

This seminar is situated in the broad field of sociolinguistics, i.e. the study of the social uses of language, drawing also on the theories of Gender, Sexuality, and Queer Studies. As Fishman put it, sociolinguistics deals with “who speaks (or writes) what language (or what language variety) to whom and when and to what end” (1972: 46). This seminar will provide an introduction to studying sociolinguistics through an intersectional lens. We rely on intersectionality theory (Crenshaw 1989) as an analytical framework that prevents us from considering social macro-categories such as gender, sexuality, class, race & ethnicity, etc. in isolation. Intersectionality helps us consider the mutual constitution of socially relevant categories. We analyze the positioning of these categories in social and historical contexts and analyze how individuals negotiate these positionings. We relate intersections with language practices of all kinds, by examining intersections as “vectors of influence”, as “inextricable and interdependent” units (Levon 2011:70), or we situate intersectionality in terms of communities of practice.

This seminar is drafted as an introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis or Critical Discourse Studies in the field of linguistics. According to van Dijk (1998a), Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is a field that is concerned with studying and analyzing written and spoken texts to reveal the discursive sources of power, dominance, inequality and bias. It examines how these discursive sources are maintained and reproduced within specific social, political and historical contexts. By ‘critical’ discourse analysis, [Fairclough] mean[s] discourse analysis which aims to systematically explore often opaque relationships of causality and determination between (a) discursive practices, events and texts, and (b) wider social and cultural structures, relations and processes; to investigate how such practices, events and texts arise out of and are ideologically shaped by relations of power and struggles over power; and to explore how the opacity of these relationships between discourse and society is itself a factor securing power and hegemony (1993: 135). In this seminar we will consider language as a social practice and investigate language use as both socially shaped and also socially shaping. Particular focus is laid on the analysis of discursive practices through which understandings, disagreements and conflicts about gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, class, abledness, citizenship/legal status, etc. are negotiated.

Eva Nossem fokussiert in ihrem Beitrag auf die multiplen, verwobenen und sich teilweise gar entgegenstehenden Diskurse zu HomoTransNationalismus in Italien als Ausdruck von Italiens Situation als Borderlands zwischen Süden und Norden. Die diskursive Fassung dieses oszillierenden und multiskalaren Selbstverständnisses wird dabei exemplarisch in der Analyse einer Reihe von Diskursen aufgezeigt, die sich um das Thema der Zugehörigkeit von geschlechtlich und sexuell marginalisierten Personen im Zusammenspiel mit Migration und Herkunft zur italienischen Gesellschaft (Stichwort ›Sexual Citizenship‹) herausgebildet haben. Die Vielschichtigkeit der italienischen Gesellschaft sowie Aushandlungen ihrer Zugehörigkeit, wie sie sich in diesen Beispielen manifestieren, sollen aus bordertexturistischer Perspektive unter die Lupe genommen werden.

Seit ihrer weltweiten Ausbreitung seit Anfang 2020 hat die Corona-Pandemie auch sprachliche (Neu-)Entwicklungen vorangetrieben. Neben der erwartbaren Aufnahme einer Reihe fachsprachlicher Termini in die Allgemeinsprache haben sich auch ein regelrechter "Corona-Wortschatz" und "Corona-Diskurse" herausgebildet. Sowohl auf lexikalischer als auch auf diskursiver Ebene lassen sich dabei eine Vielzahl von Ab-, Aus-und Begrenzungsmechanismen beobachten, die sich als linguistische (Re-)Bordering-Praktiken fassen lassen. Solche sprachlichen Grenzziehungen reichen von (Neu-)Benennungen des Corona-Virus und der Covid-19-Erkrankung über Personenbezeichnungen im Kontext der Pandemie mit einhergehenden Klassifizierungs-und Kategorisierungsprozessen bis hin zum ausgeprägten Einsatz bestimmter Metaphoriken und sprachlicher Positionierungen und Perspektivierungen. Über eine rein deskriptive Betrachtung und Sammlung der lexikologischen Entwicklungen hinaus ist eine weiterreichende kritische Auseinandersetzung erforderlich. Dieser Beitrag bietet im Folgenden einen ersten Einblick in die Vielfalt der Untersuchungsmöglichkeiten, die der diskurshistorische Ansatz von Wodak in seiner Anwendung auf Corona-Diskurse liefern kann.

People flee their homes for a multitude of reasons. In the process of claiming asylum, these reasons have to be specified. Over the last years, an increasing number of asylum seekers in Europe have asked for international protection on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI). In order to apply for asylum, the asylum seekers are required to give evidence of their SOGI-based persecution which is assessed by the decision-makers reviewing the asylum applications. At disproportional high rates, these claims are met with unfair treatment and are even refused. Apparently, language problems, malfunctioning communication, and the lack of fitting terminology for taboo topics often contribute to negative asylum decisions. However, homotransphobia, the reliance on stereotypes, and homonationalism on the part of the decision makers also play a crucial role. Over the last years, several cases hit the headlines where asylum applications were rejected because the applicant w...

This paper aims at bringing together queer approaches and lexicography, i.e. a critical heteronormativity research within the field of theoretical lexicography and practical dictionary making. The analysis focuses on power and authority in dictionaries. Power and authority do not only influence the process of dictionary making but are also produced by the dictionaries themselves. The author supports these theoretical reflections with practical examples taken from existing dictionaries. Furthermore, she outlines the influence of heteronormative power structures and refutes the dictionaries’ alleged objectivity. - See more at: http://www.gendersexualityitaly.com/potere-e-autorita/#sthash.GvijF8RJ.dpuf

In current times, the coronavirus is spreading and taking its toll all over the world. Inspite of having developed into a global pandemic, COVID-19 is oftentimes met with local national(ist) reactions. Many states pursue isolationist politics by closing and enforcing borders and by focusing entirely on their own functioning in this moment of crisis. This nationalist/nationally-oriented rebordering politics goes hand in hand with what might be termed linguistic re-bordering, i.e. the attempts of constructing the disease as something foreign-grown and by apportioning the blame to 'the other.' This paper aims at laying bare the interconnectedness of these geopolitical and linguistic/discursive re-bordering politics. It questions their efficacy and makes a plea for cross-border solidarity.

<strong>CFP Euralex "Queer(ing) Lexicography: towards truly inclusive dictionary-making?"</strong><br> Eva Nossem & Łukasz Pakuła <br> We invite abstract submissions for papers on the topic of "Queer(ing) Lexicography" for the Euralex 2018 conference in Ljubljana, 17-21 July 2018 <br> The role of dictionaries in society at large has been theorized and critiqued also with respect to hidden ideologies (e.g. Kachru & Kahane, 1995). Due to the fact that Unidentified Authorising Dictionaries (Moon, 1989) are often drawn on to legitimize and naturalize discriminatory discourses, they have been subjected to critical linguistic scrutiny. While feminist critique has yielded somewhat satisfactory results (Hoem Iversen, 2005), insights into constructions of sexuality are scarce (Pakuła, 2018). The few studies exploring non-heterosexual aspects of macro- and megastructures point to the inherent positioning of heterosexuality as an unquestioned norm and thus – in the educational context – might inhibit language learning, as is the case with textbooks and in-class interactions (see Pavlenko, 2004; Nelson, 2009). Somewhat disappointingly, there seems to be little resonance between what is done in the field of critical applied linguistics and metalexicography, as each camp preaches to the already converted (cf. Russell, 2012). This panel sets out to bridge these two (seemingly distant) worlds.<br> "'Queer' is one of a handful of terms in English that establish references by opposition and exclusion, not just by simple description. That is, instead of identifying properties that the object under discussion contains, calling something 'queer' suggests that it is out of place in some sense, that is excessive and overextended, that it disrupts and subverts an otherwise tranquil domain." (Leap 1996: 101). The tranquil domain queer aims at disrupting and subverting in this panel is lexicography and the related disciplines involved in the mono- and interlingual dictionary-making. This panel on "Queer(ing) Lexicography" (Nosse [...]

In this paper I outline verbal humor and irony in LGBTIQ designations, i.e. in name giving among and by LGBTIQ+ persons and also terms about them. My analysis focuses on personal nouns used in a humorous way both for LGBTIQ+ persons and straight/heterosexual persons, both used within LGBTIQ+ communities to refer to other group members or to outgroup persons and also used in heterosexual/heterosexist/homophobic discourse. I examine instances which are structured by heteronormativity as well as cases in which heteronormative thinking is overcome or deconstructed, in which humorous personal nouns are used for exclusion and serve as markers of otherness. Also aiming to identify who is targeted and in what ways humorous designations are used to downplay persons, I outline similarities and differences between humorous personal nouns used in heterosexist/heteronormative discourses and those used within LGBTIQ+ communities. The aim of this paper is to show how the humorous aspect of such pe...

This paper deals with the interrelatedness of borders and queer identities, bodies, sexualities, and the politics of (dis-)location in the U.S. and Germany. Looking into the relations between bodies and borders and the different ways in which activist groups in the U.S. and in Germany have attempted to develop new (re-)configurations of corpo-realities, this article shows how these groups help develop global and embodied forms of citizenship that present new forms of coalitional activism. As can be seen, processes of de- and reterritorialization increase the need for building alliances, which can function both as coalitional moments and revolutionary connections, revealing what Mohanty calls the “the temporality of struggle” (122) in the politics of location.