Malay Bera lecture: "Fairy Tales for the Queer Desi": New Paradigms in South Asian Storytelling Traditions

You are invited to an open lecture on queer fairy tales from India organized by the Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore. The event will take place at Ülikooli 16-212 on 12 December 2022 at 16:15.

Academic lecture: "Fairy Tales for the Queer Desi": New Paradigms in South Asian Storytelling Traditions

This talk will look into the online repository of Indian queer narratives titled “Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales for the Queer Desi.” Though the term desi broadly refers to people from across South Asia, these wish-fulfilment stories are primarily created and propagated by Indian queer people. They subvert the trope of heteronormative happy endings with examples of alternate futurities and normalize queer desires. Drawing from interviews with the creators of the web page and analysis of the stories, this talk will demonstrate how “Fairytales for the Queer Desi” sets the trend for a new genre of folklore born from queer people’s struggles, and their desire to have a fairy-tale ending.

Speaker: Malay Bera

Doctoral Candidate, English, Ashoka University, India

Visiting PhD Student (DoRa Plus), Folklore, University of Tartu, Estonia

The lecture will be held both on-site and online.

On-site Date and Venue: 12 December 2022 | 16:15 | Ülikooli 16-212

Online Zoom link: https://ut-ee.zoom.us/j/96148776997?pwd=cjVGZXpHM0JQQ1hrVWw2UlBUYlFuQT09

Meeting ID: 961 48776997

Passcode: 911159

This Research is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.