A public lecture by Professor J. Jack Halberstam

Author of: Female Masculinity In a Queer time and Place, and The Drag King Book with Del LaGrace Volcano

Sponsored by the Narrative, Discourse and Pedagogy research node and the College of Arts, University of Western Sydney, Australia

Abstract I want to lay out a thesis about a new genre of animated feature films that use Computer Generated Image (CGI) technology instead of standard linear animation techniques and that surprisingly foreground the themes of revolution and transformation. I will call this genre “Pixarvolt” in order to link the technology to the thematic focus and I will show that in the new animation films certain topics that would simply never appear in adult films are central to the success and emotional impact of these narratives. Furthermore, and perhaps even more surprisingly, the Pixarvolt films make subtle as well as overt connections between communitarian revolt and queer embodiment and thereby articulate, in ways that theory and popular narrative have not, the sometimes counter-intuitive links between queerness and socialist struggle. And so, while queer politics are often caricatured by Marxists as “body politics” or as simply superficial, these films recognize that alternative forms of embodiment and desire are central to the struggle against corporate domination.

When Friday, 1st August 2008 6pm for 6.30 start

Where The Powerhouse Museum 500 Harris Street Ultimo Coles Theatre Enter main doors from Harris Street Forecourt Gallery Officer will direct guests to ramp to Level 2 Theatres

Tickets $25 $20 (student and pensioner concession) Ticket price includes booking fees and GST. Handling fees may apply. To purchase tickets call Ticketek on 132-849, or visit