Particularities of Queer Utility: Gay Expertise and the Aesthetic Disposition
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Russo, Joseph C.. 2015. Particularities of Queer Utility: Gay Expertise and the Aesthetic Disposition. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London [Thesis]
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Abstract or Description
This thesis attempts a reconceptualization of queerness as it is discussed within queer
studies and popular cultural forms. It avoids the tendency towards queerness as pure
abstraction, in which queerness constitutes an aleatoric force that defines some basic
quality of nature (flux, change, chaos, possibility); it also attempts to find creative
ways to circumvent a compartmentalization of queerness into identity formation. That
is, it avoids describing queerness as either a phenomenon or an identity choice.
Instead, this thesis conceives of queerness as a set of functions, or utilities, that enact
social processes. In this work, these processes are referred to as ‘masks’ in order to
exemplify their use value. By using Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of distinction and Guy
Hocquenghem’s theory of homosexual desire, as well as engaging with contemporary
works of queer theory, it presents an analysis of the figure of the ‘gay expert’ within
popular culture discourses as an arbiter of aesthetics whose queer functionality (not
ruling class status) provides him with cultural capital and the power to advise and
instruct consumers. This power amounts to the ability to encode and decode cultural
knowledge. Additionally, the concept of the ‘queer avatar’ is explored in analyses of
various popular cultural forms, including professional wrestling and popular
television series, in which a particular functionality of aberrance is deployed to
various ends, including horror, satire, and valor.
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Item Type: |
Thesis (Doctoral) |
| Identification Number (DOI): |
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| Keywords: |
Queerness, Expertise, Aesthetics, Disposition, Utility |
| Departments, Centres and Research Units: |
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| Date: |
31 December 2015 |
| Item ID: |
16596 |
| Date Deposited: |
05 Feb 2016 10:49 |
| Last Modified: |
08 Sep 2022 13:53 |
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URI: |
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