Conference organized by ClémentineTholas & DennisTredy (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle), and Aliette Ventéjoux (Université Jean Monnet), with the support of LARCA (UPC), IMAGER (Université Paris Est Créteil), 3 LAM (Université Le Mans), ERIBIA (Université de Caen), and the Paris Institute for Advanced Study.

Followed by a public interview of Armistead Maupin at 5pm.

Registration for the conference : alietteventejoux@protonmail.com
Registration for the public interview of Armistead Maupin : https://framaforms.org/inscription-interview-avec-armistead-maupin-1696843191

Presentation

This international conference, in the presence of American writer Armistead Maupin, will examine his literary saga Tales of the City as well as its many adaptations in series, musicals and comics.
Maupin's work covers the story of a family whose destiny is intertwined with History - a non-biological family but chosen by affinity. The chronicles of this community of the heart bringing together gays, lesbians, transgender people and heterosexuals as well as heterosexuals, are written as America evolves, like a comedy of manners rooted in the spirit and issues of the times.
The aim of this conference is to understand of this multi-faceted series, whether journalistic, literary, televisual, sociological, documentary and militant or activist, and its role in bringing LGBTQIA+ culture into mainstrean culture.

To complement the conference, Armistead Maupin will give a public lecture on November 17, 2023 at 5pm, introduced by her official translator, Marc Amfreville, research professor at Sorbonne University. In addition, a festive ceremony will be organized in her honor by the Paris "convent  of the Sœurs de la Perpétuelle Indulgence, an international movement LGBTQIA+ activist movement.

Program

9h : Reception of participants

9h15 : Introduction
Clémentine Tholas (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle), Dennis Tredy (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle), Aliette Ventéjoux (Université Jean Monnet)

9h30-11h15: Style, Structure and Storytelling : Les enjeux narratifs chez Maupin
Chair : Ronan Ludot-Vlasak (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
9h30-10h05 : Anna Ferrari (University of Rome / Sapienza Università di Roma)
The Happy ‘Trojan Horse’: Tales of the City and the Subversion of Positive Storytelling
10h05-10h40 : Dennis Tredy (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
“Retellings of the City”: Television Adaptations of Tales of the City
10h40-11h15 : Christelle Klein (Aix-Marseille Université)
Examining the way HIV/AIDS constitutes a structural motif in Tales of the City


13h30h-14h40 : Then & Now, Here & There I
Chair: Clémentine Tholas (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
13h30-14h05 : Mathieu Duplay (Université Paris Cité)
AIDS, Mourning, and Melancholia in Armistead Maupin's Babycakes (1984)
14h05-14h40 : Florian Fraissard (Université Jean Monnet, Saint-Étienne)
Transfictionnalité de l’univers gay : Tales of the City au miroir des littératures étrangères
pause rafraîchissements

15h00-14h15 : Then & Now, Here & There II
Chair: Aliette Ventéjoux (Université Jean Monnet)
15h00-15h35 : Alexandre Adouard (Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier 3)
Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City : réflexion sur le fossé générationnel LGBTQ+ contemporain
15h35 - 16h15: Ramzi Fawaz (University of Wisconsin)
“Queer Love on Barbary Lane: The Serial Experience of Coming Out of the Closet with Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City”

16h45: Arrivée de l’auteur Armistead Maupin

17h : An Interview with Armistead Maupin
Conference open to the general public
Introduction : Marc Amfreville (Université Paris-Sorbonne)
Interview :  Armistead Maupin, with Clémentine Tholas (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)

18h30 : Cocktail & Ceremony : les Soeurs de la Perpétuelle Indulgence

19h30: End of Conference