Freaks and Queers in the Study of Religion
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v39i4.002Keywords:
queer studies, pedagogy, religion, sexualityAbstract
What does is mean to be a freak - a chimera - in the study of religion? What does it mean to be queer? This paper explores the effects of freakishness and queerness on hiring practices and academic success, arguing that those scholars who embody such forms of Otherness are particularly vulnerable to the insidious complaint of "lack of fit." The second half of the article considers the role of "freakish" and "queer" religions in the classroom, asking what value such religions can have for teaching and what role social justice plays in the pedagogy surrounding the teaching of (and by) freaks and queers.
References
Aikin, Susana and Carlos Aparicio 1995 The Transformation. Videocassette, 52 min. San Francisco: Frameline.
Gazecki, William 2003 Waco: The Rules of Engagement. DVD, 136 min. New York: New Yorker Video.
Grosz, Elizabeth 1996 “Intolerable Ambiguity: Freaks as/at the Limit.” In Rosemarie Garland Thomson (ed.), Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, 55-66. New York: New York University Press.
Karuna, Vajra 1998 “Zen in Black Leather” In Winston Leyland (ed.), Queer Dharma: Voices of Gay Buddhists, Vol. 1, 247-252. San Francisco: Gay Sunshine Press.
Kristeva, Julia 1982 ET Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. Trans. by Leon S. Roudiez. New York: Columbia University Press.
Nagle, Jill 2002 “Queer Naked Seder and Other Newish Jewish Traditions.” In David Shneer and Caryn Aviv (eds.), Queer Jews, 70-83. New York: Routledge.
Thomson, Rosemarie Garland 1996 “Introduction: From Wonder to Error—A Genealogy of Freak Discourse in Modernity.” In Rosemarie Garland Thomson (ed.), Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, 1-19. New York: New York University Press.
Gazecki, William 2003 Waco: The Rules of Engagement. DVD, 136 min. New York: New Yorker Video.
Grosz, Elizabeth 1996 “Intolerable Ambiguity: Freaks as/at the Limit.” In Rosemarie Garland Thomson (ed.), Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, 55-66. New York: New York University Press.
Karuna, Vajra 1998 “Zen in Black Leather” In Winston Leyland (ed.), Queer Dharma: Voices of Gay Buddhists, Vol. 1, 247-252. San Francisco: Gay Sunshine Press.
Kristeva, Julia 1982 ET Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. Trans. by Leon S. Roudiez. New York: Columbia University Press.
Nagle, Jill 2002 “Queer Naked Seder and Other Newish Jewish Traditions.” In David Shneer and Caryn Aviv (eds.), Queer Jews, 70-83. New York: Routledge.
Thomson, Rosemarie Garland 1996 “Introduction: From Wonder to Error—A Genealogy of Freak Discourse in Modernity.” In Rosemarie Garland Thomson (ed.), Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, 1-19. New York: New York University Press.
Published
2010-11-23
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Wilcox, M. (2010). Freaks and Queers in the Study of Religion. Bulletin for the Study of Religion, 39(4). https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v39i4.002
