2015: Mariecke van den Berg, “The Gospel According to Conchita Wurst”

Roetersstraat 11
Room E 0.22
1018 WB
Amsterdam

Sponsored by:
Stichting George Mosse Fonds
IHLIA LGBTI Heritage
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Global Mosse Lecture Series

Lecture Description: Soon after Conchita Wurst (Tom Neuwirth) won the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest for Austria, on social media images started to appear which compared her to Jesus Christ. The likeness was indeed striking. Conchita was subsequently accused of blasphemy by Orthodox church leaders in Eastern Europe. At the same time, she was claimed for the agenda of LGBTQ+ communities, in particular those who struggle for the emancipation of transgender persons. In Conchita’s appearance, in Neuwirth’s life narrative of “finally being yourself”, and in the lyrics of the winning song, “Rise Like A Phoenix,” many LGBTQ+ people recognized their struggle for coming-out and social acceptance. Conchita then came to resemble Jesus in yet another aspect: that of a savior/ identification figure. The different framings of Conchita raise interesting questions, which will be discussed in this lecture. Can her performance be read as a critique of heterosexual and gendered norms, and if so, are we looking at a transgender performance here –or is Conchita queer in different ways? And if “a woman with a beard” reminds us of Jesus Christ, what does that say about conventional representations and conceptions of the gender of Jesus? What might be the theological potential of a blasphemous Christ?

Lecture Series Description: The annual Mosse lecture is an initiative of the George L. Mosse Fonds to promote the study of gay/lesbian history at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). It is organized in collaboration with IHLIA LGBTI Heritage. Mosse Lectures have been given by Hafid Bouazza, Marjan Sax, Ruud Douma aka Dolly Bellefleur, Bas Heijne, Maaike Meijer, Gerardjan Rijnders, Gerrit Komrij, Gloria Wekker, Stephan Sanders, M. Februari, Ted van Lieshout, Jet Bussemaker, Mohammed Benzakour, Hedy d’Ancona, Simon(e) van Saarloos, Gert Hekma, Karin Spaink, Joke Swiebel, and David Weissman.