Queer Talks Lunch ‘n’ Learn: ‘I Adore You Forever’: The Performative Past of Mercedes de Acosta and Marlene Dietrich

Join Queer Coalition and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies on Wednesday, February 21, from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. for a fascinating glimpse into the world of early 20th century writer Mercedes de Acosta. This most recent iteration of the ongoing Queer Talks Lunch ‘n’ Learn series will be held in Milner Library Room 213C.

Attendees are invited to begin arriving at 11:30 a.m. for a buffet lunch. At noon, Dr. Bridget Sundin will present on her recently completed Ph.D. dissertation, ‘I Adore You Forever’: The Performative Past of Mercedes de Acosta and Marlene Dietrich. In describing her work, Dr. Sundin explains that “although many film scholars have written about the life and performances of actress Marlene Dietrich, there has been little academic scholarship published about her former lover, writer Mercedes de Acosta. Despite the moderate success she achieved as a poet and novelist in the 1920s, her playwriting and screenwriting of the 1930s failed to be produced. Most every publication that mentions de Acosta focuses on her sapphic relationships with successful actresses as opposed to analyzing the plays and screenplays that she wrote for these same women to perform. Utilizing feminist theatre scholar Jill Dolan’s resistant reader framework alongside theories of queer temporality, I visited the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia to engage with de Acosta’s archival collection. I quickly learned there was something powerful to be gained in reframing de Acosta’s “failure” to become a successful writer as a successful act of queer resistance against sexist, homophobic, and heteronormative societal standards of her time.”

A Zoom option will be available for those who are not able to attend in person. The Zoom link will be distributed to those who RSVP as attending remotely one day in advance of the presentation. All attendees, whether remote or in person, are asked to please RSVP by Wednesday, February 14. Those who need accommodations to fully participate in this event may contact Queer Coalition at LGBTQ@ilstu.edu. Please allow sufficient time to arrange the accommodations.