Michael E. Marmura Lectures in Arabic Studies 2024-25: Marwan Kaabour
When and Where
Speakers
Description
The Queer Arab Glossary
When conventional language does not equip us with the tools to speak about ourselves, we create our own. Slang expresses words and feelings that break down boundaries. It is a form of protest and fills in the gaps.
The Queer Arab Glossary is the first published collection of Arabic LGBTQ+ slang. This bold guide captures the lexicon of the queer Arab community in all its differences, quirks and felicities. Featuring fascinating facts and anecdotes, it contains more than 300 terms in both English and Arabic, ranging from the humorous to the harrowing, serious to tongue-in-cheek, pejorative to endearing. Here, leading queer Arab artists, academics, activists and writers offer insightful essays situating this groundbreaking glossary in a modern social and political context.
With beautiful, witty illustrations, The Queer Arab Glossary is a powerful response to pervasive myths and stereotypes around sexuality and an invitation to take a journey into queerness throughout the Arab world.
Bio:
Marwan Kaabour is a graphic designer, artist and writer. His interdisciplinary practice builds pathways between communication and publication design, curation, pedagogy and political activism. Alongside his independent projects, he works with non-profit institutions, companies and individuals in arts and culture sectors. In 2019, Marwan founded Takweer, an online platform and expanding archive of queer narratives in Arab history and popular culture. His debut book, The Queer Arab Glossary, was published in June 2024. Marwan moved from his hometown Beirut to London in 2011 to pursue a master's degree in Graphic Design, before joining renowned design agency Barnbrook. He laeter founded his own studio in 2020.
Dina Georgis is Associate Professor in the Women and Gender Studies Institute and the author of The Better Story: Queer Affects from the Middle East (SUNY, 2013). Her work is situated between postcolonial and sexuality studies.
Maya El Helou is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Anthropology in a collaborative program with Sexual Diversity Studies and a comic artist. Her dissertation, a sensory ethnography, tackles queer resistance in Beirut.
* Registration lnk: https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYlcO6opj0rE9e4dpmuyQiYF0IUEL...
* See the event poster: 
2024-25.1.marmura.kaabour_.pdf