Brief Reading Notes: Stephens, "Queer Monsters"
Two texts: Bulwer's Anthropometamorphosis (1650) and Braidotti's Metamorphoses (2002). 1650! Good lord. Both about body modifications producing the monstrous. (Monsters came up way earlier in Stryker, "My Words To Victor Frankenstein," and also in Sullivan, "Transmogrification" I think.)
Look up Halberstam on monsters? (Really, look up Halberstam on everything...)
Are these bodies... "inherently queer constructs?" (172)
Bulwer is interesting because he's interested in self-modifications, which most people were not before. He also compares contemporary fashion to "primitive" and historical fashion --- codpieces to penis-gourds! Of course, he thinks it's all bad, but it's still interesting that he actually sees them as the same thing.
"a kind of corporeal blasphemy" (175) I kind of want to start calling myself that now.
Oh hey Braidotti talks about feminist science fiction and the bodies of women as monstrous. Cool. "explore the radical political potential of becoming-monster." (179)
p180 is really useful for my paper, though probably actually for my concepts paper and not for my TST paper. "meta(l)morphosed," heh. Ooh, use Butler on arts of existence, too, 181-182 border.
This was fun but I don't feel mindblown or like I had to work crazy hard. I can't tell how much of that is "I am getting better at reading this kind of paper" and how much is just "I am so burnt out, I will not be able to go 'Oh my god!!!' to a new idea until January." Four more papers, let's find out!
This entry was originally posted at http://rax.dreamwidth.org/60819.html.
Look up Halberstam on monsters? (Really, look up Halberstam on everything...)
Are these bodies... "inherently queer constructs?" (172)
Bulwer is interesting because he's interested in self-modifications, which most people were not before. He also compares contemporary fashion to "primitive" and historical fashion --- codpieces to penis-gourds! Of course, he thinks it's all bad, but it's still interesting that he actually sees them as the same thing.
"a kind of corporeal blasphemy" (175) I kind of want to start calling myself that now.
Oh hey Braidotti talks about feminist science fiction and the bodies of women as monstrous. Cool. "explore the radical political potential of becoming-monster." (179)
p180 is really useful for my paper, though probably actually for my concepts paper and not for my TST paper. "meta(l)morphosed," heh. Ooh, use Butler on arts of existence, too, 181-182 border.
This was fun but I don't feel mindblown or like I had to work crazy hard. I can't tell how much of that is "I am getting better at reading this kind of paper" and how much is just "I am so burnt out, I will not be able to go 'Oh my god!!!' to a new idea until January." Four more papers, let's find out!
This entry was originally posted at http://rax.dreamwidth.org/60819.html.