Seminar: 3.02.980 S Of Beautiful Laundrettes and Other Beautiful Things: Queer British Cinema - Details

Seminar: 3.02.980 S Of Beautiful Laundrettes and Other Beautiful Things: Queer British Cinema - Details

General information

Course name Seminar: 3.02.980 S Of Beautiful Laundrettes and Other Beautiful Things: Queer British Cinema
Subtitle
Course number 3.02.980
Semester SoSe2026
Current number of participants 15
maximum number of participants 13
Home institute Institute of English and American Studies
Courses type Seminar in category Teaching
First date Thursday, 09.04.26, 14:00 - 16:00 o'clock A14 1-113
Type/Form
Lehrsprache englisch

Rooms and times

A14 1-113

  • Thursday, 14:00 - 16:00, Weekly (from 09.04.26)

Module assignments

Comment/Description

Course Description

If, as cultural studies hold, our identities do not come from inside ourselves so much as from the culture that surrounds us; and if, following Judith Butler, these identities are performative and thus shaped through imitation and repetition, then movies arguably count among the most influential media that, in Western culture, shape people's sense of self and their ideas about who they are. Whether through closeted subtexts or more outspoken independent productions, queer representation in film has for a long time provided a discursive cultural space in which queer desire has been negotiated – meaning censored, silenced and misrepresented but also articulated, liberated, or even empowered.
Situating each film within its relevant historical and theoretical contexts, this seminar will start with the discussion of the documentary film The Celluloid Closet, before taking a closer look at a selected number of films from queer British cinema, namely My Beautiful Laundrette, The Crying Game, and Beautiful Thing. For the remaining sessions, students will be given the opportunity to pick their own primary text from a pool of different British films so as to be able to prepare a presentation discussing a topic of their own choice.

Primary texts

The Celluloid Closet. Dir. Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Narrated by Lily Tomlin. 1996. Pro-Fum Media, 2007. DVD. [or any other version]
My Beautiful Laundrette. Dir. Stephen Frears. Perf. Gordon Warnecke, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Saeed Jaffrey. 1985. Studiocanal, 2010. DVD. [or any other version]
The Crying Game. Dir. Neil Jordan. Perf. Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Jaye Davidson, and Forest Whitaker. 1992. Studiocanal, 2018. DVD. [or any other version]
Beautiful Thing. Dir. Hattie MacDonald. Perf. Glen Berry, Scott Neal, Linda Henry, Tameka Empson, and Ben Daniels. 1996. Salzgeber, 2020. DVD. [or any other version]

Suggestions for presentations, including but not limited to

All of Us Strangers (2023)
Ammonite (2020)
Another Country (1984)
Bent (1997)
Billy Elliot (2000)
Blue Jean (2022)
Breakfast on Pluto (2005)
The Danish Girl (2015)
Edward II (1991)
The Favourite (2018)
God's Own Country (2017)
The Killing of Sister George (1968)
Maurice (1987)
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
Orlando (1992)
Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
Pride (2014)
Priest (1994)
Peter's Friends (1992)
Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
Rocketman (2019)
Saltburn (2023)
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
A Taste of Honey (1961)
Velvet Goldmine (1998)
Victim (1961)
Wilde (1997)

Admission settings

The course is part of admission "ang971/2/3 981/2/3 991/2/3 MM LitKult".
The following rules apply for the admission:
  • A defined number of seats will be assigned to these courses.
    The seats in the affected courses have been assigned at 20.03.2026 on 08:00. Additional seats may be available via a waiting list.
  • At least one of these conditions must be fulfilled for enrolment:
    • Field of study is Englisch
    • Field of study is Deutsch als Fremdsprache/Deutsch als Zweitsprache
    • Field of study is English Studies
    • Field of study is Anglistik
    • Degree is Anpassungslehrgang
    • Field of study is Gender Studies
  • Enrolment is allowed for up to 1 courses of the admission set.
  • The enrolment is possible from 16.03.2026, 06:00 to 31.05.2026, 23:59.
Assignment of courses: