interesting entry. one question i had was, in what ways do you see the queer missionaries avoiding both the dogmatic approach of other missionaries (*resists urge to quote op ivy song at length*) and the sometimes-trap of 'educating' people? or maybe you'd say this would be an instance where education should be emphasized. or, perhaps this would be/is being accomplished by direct actions (in the style of current ones or along other lines)? ..i know you said the methods are still up for debate so this isn't to say you should have elaborated this stuff in what you discussed, i'm just curious if you had thoughts about this.
See, I think another connection between Buddhism (especially of the Chan/Zen/Dhyana/Seon variety) and Queer Theory is that the philosophies are intrinsically resistant to rigid dogmatization. Essentially, they’re anti-essentialist non-identities. Because of this, Buddhism could be applied in incredibly broad social settings and contexts, from Indian aristocrats, to Chinese merchants, to Japanese warriors, to American beat poets. I don’t see dogma as a viable danger for Queer Theory. The danger I see is that a bunch of frat brothers could expropriate the term and label date-rape as queer (they’re already starting to move towards this tactic
( ... )
Queer theory (American queer theory at least), rests on Michel Foucault's History of Sexuality, which is all about the maintenance of status quos inherently producing counter-dialogues or queerness.
I agree with your tie to Buddhism, but for more concrete reasons. Foucault's post-structuralism (and a lot of French post-structuralism in general) finds its main tenets in the works of Nietzsche. For Nietzsche, the world never tends toward "order"/psychosexualnormativity. It tends toward "chaos"/queerness. The "order" that exists is due to humankind's will to power, or need to structure itself from chaos. This is done at the macro and micro level. But given that all things are in a constant state of becoming, "order" constantly falls away. Queer theorists often trample each other, claiming the last author was not queer enough
( ... )
*grimaces* Ummmm, your best bet is probably to find copies of The Gay Science and Geneology of Morals that have indexes and look up Buddhism. You'll probably find a lot on the concept of the "ascetic ideal," which is in the latter. The argument he puts forward is that abstinence from sexuality (and one could say by extention, queer sexuality), is historically understood to be "ideal," especially from the philosophical context. Mixed with Christianity, it becomes a "moral" (as seen in the works of Kant, Plato, Schopenhauer). However, Nietzsche contends that these "morals" are merely conditions for temperaments; in other words, people look to "moral" people and these people are expected to act a certain way ("morally"). The morality itself doesn't exist; what exists is a function of power
( ... )
Comments 6
..i know you said the methods are still up for debate so this isn't to say you should have elaborated this stuff in what you discussed, i'm just curious if you had thoughts about this.
Reply
Reply
Also, I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year's and vacation in general.
I wish I could say something about Buddhism and Queer Theory but I honestly know nothing about either. Sorry.
Reply
I agree with your tie to Buddhism, but for more concrete reasons. Foucault's post-structuralism (and a lot of French post-structuralism in general) finds its main tenets in the works of Nietzsche. For Nietzsche, the world never tends toward "order"/psychosexualnormativity. It tends toward "chaos"/queerness. The "order" that exists is due to humankind's will to power, or need to structure itself from chaos. This is done at the macro and micro level. But given that all things are in a constant state of becoming, "order" constantly falls away. Queer theorists often trample each other, claiming the last author was not queer enough ( ... )
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment