QUEERING

Queering Circulation Map

A Circulation Map of "Queering" Across Time & Disciplines

2000s

Pre-1970

1980s

2020s

1990s

1970s

2010s

Conclusion

Introduction & Definition

Introduction & Definition

This circulation map will look at the use of queer specifically as a verb. We will preface with the historical context of both the word queer and texts discussing queer people. Then, decade by decade, we will discuss texts that use the word queer as a verb and map its use. Queer reading, shortened to "queering," is an analytical method that "render[s] a text queerer by reading it in a certain way” and was developed as a part of queer theory in the 1980/90s (Barker). The condition of making a text queerer has since broadened to making anything queerer. This became the popular meaning for "queering," especially in academic and queer spaces. The purpose of queering is not to prove anything concrete about a specific identity, but to make "queer interventions in the form of cultural, textual, and specifically literary analysis" (Hall 15). Queering questions and weakens dominant, oppressive systems by creating queer interpretations or possibilities.

Pre-1970

Prior to the '80s, queer (v.) meant "to upset arrangements," "to spoil," and "to ridicule" (Barrère). The act of queering something was to make it worse. (This connotation of tarnishing or harming is why queer was used as a slur, as a large portion of homophobic/transphobic rhetoric focuses on the effect on a community.) The idiom "to queer (someone's) pitch" is the most common use of queer (v.) during this time period and means "to spoil or ruin something planned, arranged, or attempted" ("queer"). This idiom was in use as early as 1846. Example on the right, from 1897: "a convicted burglar, if brought up for a repeated offence, does not accuse the police of 'queering his pitch'" (Nisbet).

Pre-1970

From 1870 to 1970, queer people are researched and written about mostly from a medical perspective. Psychology and sociology "looked on the subject population as either deviant or in need of repair, or both" (Tierney 26). These texts treated being queer as being wrong and discussed theoretical causes and cures. From Havelock Ellis' Psychology Of Sex (1933): "Artistic aptitude of one kind or another, and a love of music, are found among a large proportion of educated inverts, in my experience as much as 68 per cent."

In these texts, queer people are often called homosexuals or inverts. Even as the word queer was being associated with queer people for the general public, academic texts did not use queer until queer studies emerged in the '80s and the reclaimed version was used.

1970s

The '70s had an increase in research about queer people after the Stonewall Riots in 1969 and the APA declared homosexuality not a mental illness in 1973 (Tierney 27). Queer people are increasingly demanding to be seen in a more neutral or positive light. As part of this progression, the word queer was reclaimed and redefined in the late 20th century. Queer Nation and other civil rights organizations dismissed the derogatory roots of queer and used it as a positive label for the community: "We're Here! We're Queer! Get used to it!" The word queer was then picked up and used in academic texts. The reclamation of queer was a "sophisticated and energizing concept that came from activists and was appropriated by academics, not the other way around" (Hall 80).

1980s

The '80s see the beginning of queer studies and queer theory. Queer studies are added to the identity-based academic disciplines as scholars openly discuss queer history and identity. Queer theory is "historicist in that it seeks to understand sexual identity over time” (Tierney 172). The History of Sexuality (1976) by Michel Foucault has a large influence on queer theory. Foucault's "reconceptualizations of discourse, sexuality, and power" serve as a large part of the foundation of queer theory (Hall 67). This action of reexamining (and later examining or creating) to make room for queer people, in and out of academics, is where queer readings are born. Queering is about creating space for queer people to exist in the past, the present, and the future.

1990s

It is in the '90s that queer theory rises, as a reflection of the activism in the previous two decades (Hall 54). As a part of queer studies and queer theory solidifying, queer theorists queer a variety of topics. The term "queer reading" is still in use, but is commonly replaced by "queering" especially outside of literary analysis. Queer(v.) is also used by activists, but majority of its use is by academics. Some examples include: Queering the Renaissance (1993) Queering the Pitch: The New Gay and Lesbian Musicology (1994) Bodies That Don't Matter: The Queering of "Henry James" (1995) Difference Troubles: Queering Social Theory and Sexual Politics (1997) Making It Ours: Queering the Canon (1998)

2000s

From 2000 to 2009, use of "queering" doubles (Google Books Ngram Viewer). It is being used in the same context, but more frequently. Queer studies continues to reflect and respond to the progression of queer rights. Some examples include: Queering the Color Line: Race and the Invention of Homosexuality in American Culture (2000) Flaming Classics: Queering the Film Canon (2000) Queering the Middle Ages (2001) Queering the Non/human (2008)

2010s

From 2010 to 2019, use of "queering" doubles again (Google Books Ngram Viewer). During this decade, there is a lot of work to queer interdisciplinary theory. Pedagogy and methodology are popular topics. Some examples include: Queering Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality, and the Hygienic Imagination (2010) Queering Architecture: Appropriating Space and Process (2014) Queering Classrooms: Personal Narratives and Educational Practices to Support LGBTQ Youth in Schools (2016) Queering Translation, Translating the Queer: Theory, Practice, Activism (2017)

2010s

Queering is also being used by nonacademics. One example is the Queering the Map project which launched in 2017. In this project, people add pins to a digital world map with details about queer experiences they've had in that area. The goal is to create visibility and queer the spaces around us, so the existance and prevelance of queer people cannot be denied. In "Write the Story You Want to Read," Floegel discusses how slash fiction is a form of world-queering. Slash fiction and shipping is a very common form of fan creation. Fans notice a lack of represenation and "rather than exist in purely deficient spaces due to these gaps, they write material to fill them" (Floegel 797). These fan works go a step further in their queering because the act of creating new media "turn[s] queer readings of texts into queer writings” (Barker). World-queering, even though it is not often refered to as "queering" by the creators, queers that media by “interspersing queerer stories between the gaps in the canon of mainstream media texts” (Barker).

2020s (so far)

While Google Books Ngram Viewer doesn't yet have any data for the '20s, the frequency of queering shows no signs of decreasing so far. It is completely possible this decade will continue the trend of doubling the use of queering. Some examples include: Queering Drag: Redefining the Discourse of Gender-Bending (2020) Queering Public Health and Public Policy in the Deep South (2020) Queering the Interior (2020) Heteronormativity Meets Queering in Physical Education: The Views of PE Teachers and LGBTIQ+ Students (2021) A Proximate Remove: Queering Intimacy and Loss in The Tale of Genji (2021) Queering Wesley, Queering the Church (2021)

2020s (so far)

While the word "queering" is still not used much outside of academic spaces, that does not mean nonacademics are not queering. The type of world-queering Floegel discussed is still happening through unapologetically queer fan and original content, as well as queer analysis and theory outside of academics (often labeled queercoding in place of queering). The example on the right is a typical queercoding analysis. It relies on evidence and analytical methods typical of nonqueer analysis, but also brings in queer personal experience to inform this new interpretation of a character. Academics who write queering texts feel a responsibility to “point out alternative possibilities,” and nonacademics who engage in world-queering feel the same responsibility (Tierney 175).

Conclusion

Queering is a political action, a form of activism, and "a term of political consciousness and agency" (Hall 77). For these reasons, use of "queering" is a direct reflection of the political climate of the time. While a majority of the use of "queering" is from academics, "queering" is also used outside of academia. Activist movements sometimes use the term. Queering also occurs in fandom spaces, though it often is not labeled "queering."

Academia and popular media follow the trends of activism, with less of a delay in more recent times as these groups become more digital. This can be seen in the way queering began in activism and moved into the other spaces and how those spaces regularly adopt activist rhetoric and discussion. Queering was developed to "reassess different historical moments and, in doing so, reframe our present” (Tierney 170). Over time, queering became more concerned in reassessing the present and future, as well as the past. Queering is about subverting the cishet domination over every disipline and allowing queer people into the discussions.

Works Cited

A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant: Embracing English, American, and Anglo-Indian Slang, Pidgin English, Tinker's Jargon and Other Irregular Phraseology. Ballantyne Press, 1890. Barker, Meg-John, and Julia Scheele. Queer: A Graphic History. Icon Books Ltd, 2016. Ellis, Havelock. Psychology of Sex. William Heinemann (Medical Books) Ltd, 1933. Floegel, Diana. “‘Write the Story You Want to Read’: World-Queering through Slash Fanfiction Creation.” Journal of Documentation, vol. 76, no. 4, July 2020, pp. 785–805. Google Books Ngram Viewer. Google. 2022. Hall, Donald E. Queer Theories. Palgrave MacMillan, 2003. LaRochelle, Lucas. Queering The Map, May 2017, https://www.queeringthemap.com/.

Works Cited

Nisbet, J. F. "The World, The Flesh, And The Devil." The Idler; An Illustrated Magazine, vol. 11, no. 1, Feb. 1897. “Queer (someone's) pitch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/queer%20%28someone%27s%29%20pitch. Tierney, William G. Academic Outlaws: Queer Theory and Cultural Studies in the Academy. SAGE Publications, 1997. Image sources linked to images.