If you have ever wanted to be a leather daddy, been puzzled by performativity, tried to measure bisexuality, or wondered whether diana, princess of wales could be a gay icon, queer. It is strongly reliant on psychoanalytic categories and concepts, but seeks to overcome the heterosexual limits of psychoanalytic theory. Queer theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of queer studies and womens studies. Buy genealogy of queer theory american subjects by turner, william isbn. A genealogy of queer theoryprobes the fierce debates among scholars and activists, weighing the charges that queer readings of texts and identity politics do not constitute and might inhibit radical social change. Explores the ways in which sexuality, subjectivity and sociality have been discursively produced in various historical and cultural contexts.
Queer theory includes both queer readings of texts and the theorization of queerness itself. Instructions on how to search for print and electronic books as well as a concise list of the core works of queer theory. A critical discourse developed in the 1990s in order to deconstruct or to queer sexuality and gender in the wake of gay identity politics, which had tended to rely on strategic essentialism. If you are interested in reading more about queer theory, these are some of my favorite articles that i read in my queer theory class. Our translation in short, queer theory shifts gender discrimination from being about the exclusion of women by patriarchy to the exclusion of nonheterosexual by heterosexual norms.
Turners lucid and engaging book traces the roots of queer theory to the growing awareness that few of us precisely fit standard categories for sexual and gender identity. Queer theory and the death drive, steven bruhm and natasha hurley s edited volume curiouser. Thankfully, this text is a very clear introduction to queer theory, allowing those of us unfamiliar with the theory, the history, or even the lifestyles discussed a great beginning into a currently vast field. Books that bring into discussion queer theory with other subject matters such as culture and politics are listed. Queer theory began in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a critique of sexual normativity, or the way in which some forms of sexuality and gender receive soci. A journal of feminist cultural studies she edited based on that conference queer theory focuses on mismatches between sex, gender and desire. Universities have also labeled this area of analysis sexual diversity studies, sexualities. Beginning with marginalized experiences of sexuality and gender, it develops a critique of heterosexism and homophobia, analyzing both the norms. However, though the problem has been noted, it has yet to be addressed within the. In some ways, the task ahead of us me as writer attempting to provide a complete overview of the topic, and you as a reader working. Canadian online journal of queer studies in education. We use your linkedin profile and activity data to personalize ads and to show you more relevant ads. So begins this collection examining critical, indigenouscentered approaches to understanding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and twospirit glbtq2 lives and communities and the creative implications of queer theory in native studies. Overall the book achieves its aim most efficiently and pleasurably, serving as an introduction to the academic world of queer theory.
A critical introduction to queer theory edition 1 by. The body of abstract theory and applied readings that came to be known as queer theory during the 1990s and that will be pluralized here more on that in a moment is dauntingly complex and diverse. A geneology of queer theory probes the fierce debates among scholars and activists, weighing the charges that queer readings of texts and identity politics do not constitute and might inhibit radical social change. Feminism and the subversion of identity by judith butler, epistemology of the closet by eve kosofsky sedgw. Discover librarianselected research resources on queer theory from the questia online library, including fulltext online books, academic journals, magazines, newspapers and more. Queer theory is a relatively new discourse with a delicate and nuanced history. The book begins by putting gay and lesbian sexuality and politics in historical context and demonstrates how and why queer theory emerged in the west in the late twentieth century. What is queer theory definition of queer theory define. Foucault is not the origin of queer theory, nor is queer theory the destination of foucaults thinking. At queer theology weve developed a ton of resources over the years.
Queer theory seeks, among other things, to describe or map out the ways homosexual or homoerotic desire manifests itself in literary and cultural texts. Queer theorys child and childrens literature studies. We spoke to a few queer theory aficionados and came up with this list of 20 mustread queer theory texts. Few scholars are applying queer theory to the study of texts for children and young adults. There are a lot of things that jagose covers in the comparatively short page number she takes. As a whole, queer ecologies stands as a powerful corrective to views that equate natural with straight while queer is held to be against nature. Approaches to literature queer theory macmillan higher. Noting that such work does not signal queer theorys turn to the child, especially since psychoanalytic theory, with its descriptions of infantile. Since the early 1990s, the term queer has been strategically taken up to signify a wideranging and unmethodical resistance to normative models of sex, gender, and sexuality. Queer theory project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Queer theory is a varied field that, much like its namesake, resists easy categorization. From experts to beginners, bill turner provides the key to knowing how queer theory began and evolved. Queer theory is a field of university of california, santa cruz in 1990 and a special issue of differences. William b turner this book traces the roots of queer theory to the growing awareness that few of us precisely fit standard categories for sexual and gender identity.
Turner shows how michal foucaults work contributed to feminists investigations into the ways. Queer theory is a rapidly growing field in the critical theory tradition. This historian and queer theorist maps the various themes and directions the major writers took while founding his book on the essential thoughts of michel foucault. Queer theory highlights the incoherency between sex, gender, desire, and sexual behavior, and the inability for heterosexual or homosexual identity categories to capture the multiplicities of. Queer theory is concerned with the nonessentializing nature of sexual identities and is premised on the notion of resistance to forms of domination, such as heterosexism and homophobia. Background queer theory libguides at university of. Queer theory grew out of feminism and gender studies in the 1990s in this theory the word queer is not necessarily a synonym for gay but rather a position that rejects conventions or mainstream expressions of all types of behaviour including sexuality and gender. Queer theory is one of the most contested and intellectually complex movements in contemporary sexual politics. List of books and articles about queer theory online. To use one of foucaults own terms, the essay could be seen as a brief and partial. On this page weve got them organized by topic so you can find exactly what youre looking for exactly when you need it. Queer theory includes both queer readings of texts and the theorisation of queerness itself. Queer studies is the critical theory based study of issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex lgbti people and cultures. From asking if its okay to be lgbtq to navigating sex and relationships to.
Yet queer is a category still in the process of formation. Queer theory is a field of poststructuralist critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of queer studies and womens studies. Reclaiming queer is an examination of the rhetorical linkage of queer theory in the academy with streetlevel queer activism in the 1980s and early 1990s. The historical roots of queer theory are traced from the homosexual rights movement through the gay liberation movement. Sedgwick developed along with judith butler, a professor at the university of california, berkley, is a prism through which scholars examine literary texts. His history of sexuality examines not just sex itself, but how sex acts are discussed and categorized.
Queer theory is motivated by a concern with identity but, paradoxically, is also anti. Heavily influenced by the work of eve kosofsky sedgwick, judith butler, and lauren berlant, queer. Queer theorys origin is hard to clearly define, since it came from multiple critical and cultural contexts, including feminism, poststructuralist theory, radical movements of people of color, the gay and lesbian movements, aids activism, many sexual subcultural practices such as sadomasochism, and postcolonialism. Tiina rosenberg, queer scientist and associate professor in theater studies at stockholm university writes. Queer has been associated most prominently with bisexual, lesbian and gay subjects, but its analytic framework also. Opposed to gender essentialism, queer theorists see sexuality as a discursive social construction, fluid, plural, and continually negotiated rather than a natural, fixed, core identity. Putting foucault at the center, turner provides a valuable guide to the twists and turns of queer theory, analyzing the work of a wide range of scholars who have revolutionized the way we think about the queer past, queer identity, and queer politics. An introduction, annamarie jagose provides a clear and concise explanation of queer theory, tracing it as part of an intriguing history of samesex love over the last century, from midcentury homophile movements to gay liberation, the womens movement and lesbian feminism, to the reappropriation of the term queer. Queer theory and the jewish question thus enacts a change in object from uncovering the hidden histories of homosexuals who were also jewish or jews who were also homosexual to analyzing the rhetorical and theoretical connections that tie together the constellations jew and homosexual. Callis purdue university, west lafayette, in, usa scholars writing on the topic of bisexual identity frequently lament the lack of bisexual representation in works of queer theorists. A graphic history is a lucid little book that manages despite or because of its lighthearted format to provide clarity on the varied, sometimes contradictory, and still evolving meanings of the term queer, which can be used as. These discussions are particularly relevant to current debates in many disciplines, including environmental studies, queer theory, critical race theory, philosophy, literary criticism, and politics. On the queerness of children, and my own making american boys.