Vabilo na predavanje doc. dr. Costasa Canakisa

Spoštovani,

Jutri, 10. junija 2014, ob 17.00 uri bo v P3 na Zavetiški 5, v prostorih Oddelka za etnologijo in kulturno antropologijo Filozofske fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani, predaval doc. dr. Costas Canakis z Oddelka za socialno antropologijo in zgodovino Egejske univerze v Mitiliniju. Naslov predavanja je "Discourses of same-sex parenthood in contemporary Greece" (Diskurzi istospolnega starševstva v sodobni Grčiji). S predavanjem pozdravljajo Teden parade ponosa, prirejata pa ga Slovensko etnološko in antropološko združenje Kula ter Oddelek za etnologijo in kulturno antropologijo Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani.

Prisrčno vabljeni.

Več informacij je v priponki.

Povzetek predavanja v angleškem jeziku:

Discourses of same-sex parenthood in contemporary Greece

This paper investigates aspects of discourses on same-sex parenthood in contemporary Greece based on data derived from semi-structured interviews which are part of a larger interdisciplinary project on parenthood and kinship vis-à-vis assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). As ARTs have seriously enhanced the chances of same-sex couples for parenthood in Greece, there have emerged new opportunities for the investigation of discourse produced by a part of the population for which parenthood has been typically relegated to the realm of the unthinkable. This is a recurrent issue in the interviews we are focusing on here: four people, two gay men and two lesbian women in same-sex relationships, who have decided to have a child by artificial insemination, give lengthy accounts of this experience while repositioning themselves not only vis-à-vis gender, sexuality, and parenthood, but social institutions and gender-appropriate expectations at large. They use this opportunity to construct rich narratives of their life stories which negotiate proscriptions and possibilities and "make a statement" in an attempt to resignify their own position as gendered and sexed citizens.

The challenge of any such study is to combine research on the narrative construction of gender and sexuality (e.g. Archakis & Lampropoulou 2009) vis-à-vis both time-honored and changing norms. We propose that various perspectives on sexuality as identity (Bucholtz & Hall 2004) and desire (Cameron & Kulick 2003) as well as recent queer linguistic approaches to discourse (Motschenbacher & Stegu 2013) can be fruitfully explored to this effect.

Based on research on discourse and social identity and especially on narratives (Bamberg 1997, Archakis & Tsakona 2012), we are investigating aspects of the discourse produced by the prospective parents regarding the self, the child, the family, and their social visibility and status. This is preeminently a discourse of tensions between resistance to existing norms and claims for social change. As such, it is characterized both by "doing being ordinary" and by explicit attempts at naturalizing the extraordinary (cf. Lawrence 1996). Moreover, the perceived tensions are not limited to the subjectivity/identity of any one of the people involved, but relate to the collective experience of a community of practice presented with new opportunities and challenges.