May 7, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Corinna Kahnke
Cal Poly Modern Languages and Literatures
805-756-1620

‘Decoding Identity in Queer Detective Fiction’
Topic of May 15 Talk at Cal Poly

SAN LUIS OBISPO – A scholar in modern German literature will present a lecture on queer detective fiction at Cal Poly from 11 a.m. to noon Thursday, May 15, in Room 200 in the Erhart Agriculture Building.

Faye Stewart will talk on “Reading the Lavender Herring: Decoding Identity in Queer Detective Fiction.”

In her talk, Stewart will explain the importance of studying queer crime novels by examining the similarities between crime and sexuality. “The queer investigator takes on the tasks of decoding both,” Stewart said. “Her personal and professional survival depends on the gathering, deciphering and communication of codes that reference, on one hand, the identities of criminals, and on the other, the sexual desires, practices and identities of the people she encounters.”

Stewart earned an undergraduate degree in comparative literature from Haverford College and a Ph.D. in modern German literature and culture from Indiana University in 2007. She just completed a year as visiting scholar at Southwestern University in Texas and will begin teaching German at Georgia State University in August.

Her research and teaching interests include German film and popular culture, gender studies and queer theory, and crime literature. Her talk is an excerpt from her current book project, “The Lavender Herring: Reading Gender, Sexuality and Race in Queer German Crime Fiction.”

The presentation and lunch are sponsored by Cal Poly’s Modern Languages and Literatures Department.  For more information, contact Corinna Kahnke at 756-1620.

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