Negotiating difference across time: the temporal meanings of the Sydney Mardi Gras in lesbian and gay life narratives

Scott McKinnon, Robert Reynolds, Shirleene Robinson

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    1 Citation (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This paper examines the temporal meanings of the annual LGBTI pride event, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Drawing on findings from a large-scale oral history project, the paper explores ways in which Australian lesbians and gay men place Mardi Gras within life narratives. Three temporal frameworks were commonly used by our interviewees. First, Mardi Gras acted as an annual temporal marker through which to plan a year. Second, changing personal understandings of Mardi Gras were used by interviewees to position themselves within the life course. Third, the shifting meanings of Mardi Gras were deployed as a means of narrating broader historical changes in the LGBTI community. We argue that, although lesbian and gay identities might now be considered increasingly mainstream and even “ordinary”, each of these temporal frameworks represents the continued differing experiences of time and space between homosexual and heterosexual lives.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)314-327
    Number of pages14
    JournalJournal of Australian Studies
    Volume42
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 3 Jul 2018

    Keywords

    • oral history
    • life narrative
    • Mardi Gras
    • gay
    • lesbian
    • temporality

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