The symposium, organised by the Queer Analysis Research Group, aims to investigate not only trans and trans-attracted people as subjects and objects of desire but the function of trans-ness itself in the formation of subjectivity and the logic of desire. The symposium will consists of several talks and performances and will be followed by drinks.

'The body-symptom: thinking gender as an unconscious desire' by Silvia Lippi

During the symposium, psychoanalyst Silvia Lippi will articulate how clinical and literary encounters with trans-ness has changed the analyst’s conception of identity in psychoanalysis. She will also envision how new social bonds might emerge through such encounters. 

Trained as a philosopher, Lippi holds a PhD in psychology from Université Paris-Diderot. She is a hospital psychologist at the Établissement Public de Santé Barthélémy Durand in Étampes and a researcher associate at Université Paris-Nanterre. Lippi is the author of Soeurs, Pour une psychanalyse féministe, Seuil, 2023 (with Patrice Maniglier), Rythme et mélancolie (Erès, 2019), Freud. La passione de l'ingovernabile (Feltrinelli, Milano, 2018), La décision du désir (Eres, 2013), Price Œdipe le Salon 2014, Transgressions. Bataille, Lacan (Eres, 2008). She co-edited the collective work Marx, Lacan: l'acte révolutionnaire, l'acte analytique (Eres, 2013). Her works have been translated in Italian and English (The decision of desire, University of Minnesota Press, 2020). In her articles and books, she has developed a psychoanalysis that is particularly attentive to psychotic experiences and the interpellations of contemporary minority groups.

“The Last Unicorn - Trans Lesbian Hyper Pop Remix,” by Callaz and Luce deLire 

In the 1982 movie "The Last Unicorn", a witch puts a second horn on an incarcerated unicorn's forehead. She says that without the second horn, people wouldn't recognize the unicorn - and the witch couldn't charge money from them. In this lecture performance by Callaz and Luce deLire, we explore the unicorn trick in the cases of desire, gender transitions (into cis, trans, non-binary and other genders) and epistemic violence. We will meet Freud, Spivak, Wittig and Butler on the way. We suggest trans lesbianism as a way out of the cage. Burn the witch. Become the witch. Fly.

Luce deLire is a ship with eight sails and she lies down by the quay. As a philosopher, she publishes on the metaphysics of infinity but also on art, queer and trans theory, anti-racism, postcolonialism, and political theory. In her performances, she embodies figures of the collective imaginary. For more (including booking), see IG: @Luce_deLire and getaphilosopher.com

Callaz is a fussy assemblage of tunes and signals, a voice artist. Her live acts dance against I DON’T KNOW. Her music redirects collective fantasies towards pleasure as empowerment. ‘How can you fly when your wings come off? Swallow your pride. Let it flow. ‘Guilty pleasures? I decided to no longer have them.’

Special performance by Marco Borkent

There will be a special performance by Marco Borkent.

Symposium details

This symposium is made possible with the support of the Faculty of Humanities Diversity Office, the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis  (ASCA), and the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Analysis (NICA). The event will be public and in-person only and won’t be recorded. There is no need to sign up. For more info contact Diego Semerene: d.semerene@uva.nl

Students interested in receiving 1 credit via NICA can sign-up via d.semerene@uva.nl by March 10th the latest. You are asked to read the articles below and can contact Diego Semerene for access:

• Luce deLire, “Transsexuality at the Origin of Desire: Or, Schreber’s Satanic Handjob”
• Silvia Lippi, "Desire—­ Between Alterity and Decision" (Introduction of The Decision of Desire)