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    Munoz Cruising Utopia

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    Jefferson Martinez Santa
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    © All Rights Reserved
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    José Esteban Mufioz Cruising Utopia The Then and Theve of Queer Futurity | a 1 Ng semen Aege mee “Foxfire Faking Agi” teh Dae ide we (Goi. sn Eo 1979), Cnty fe ho Having» Ck ith eT Calta Poof ant Har by nk {thn nly Doral ln, Copy 1971 Mrmr Sy, ‘Ale Koop dion Ras Howe ‘pig Cate Pons byes Sls Cop © 199 yh ase loser Repel by pene of Pa St Ge LLC “an At nT Cpt vm 197-1979 yt Bo Copp (B19, 1A He Meise. Reply person of a Sats tnd hoon if Congo Coogi Nar Btn Crain theta ee of yer try ot i Mos pom. (Seah) Ban 976-0 8157-57277 a pape) obs pe) ISaN0-0-4147-72-8(phsae pope "Quethos Pefomns tL Tl {dterbdng setae chown sng a db we rayon pe erie lather eet ponte abiig on bok Contents Acsnovledgments Introduction: Feeling Utopia 1 Qgcemess as Horizon: ‘Utopan Hermenestisin the Face of Gay Pagmnatisn 2 Ghosts of Public Sea: Utopian Longings, Queer Memories 2h Future lia the Present: Sexual Avant Gade sn he Peformance of Utopia 46 Gestre heme, sd Quoer Feeling: Approaching Kevin Avance ‘5 Cessingthe Tot: LeRol Jones/Ami Barak, Radical Back ditions and Queer Party 6 Stages: Queers Parks, and the Utopian Perfocmative 2 Utopia Seating Chart: Ray Johnson il Johaston, and ‘Queer termed System Just bike Heaven: {Queer Viopian Art and the Aesthetic Dimension 9 AJeté Out the Window: Fred Herk' Incandescent mination 10 After Jack: Quoor Falla, Queer Viewty Conclusion: “Take Bestasy with Me” bap Index ‘Abu he Autor Color austration follow page 3 ° 8 7 us bt M7 Iss, 191 209 ar as 8 Introduction Feeling Utopia _Anapofthewordthatdoesntincade opin notworthgncogat scr Wilde (QUEERNESS 15 NOT yet here. Queeress isan Melty. Pu another way, Weare no yet queer We may newer touch queemes, but we ea fel itas the wars lamination ofa horizon imbued with potently We hare rover Ben ques, yet queeres exits for ws ap an dealt that can be ds ‘led the pst and sed to imagine afte, The fate success domain. Qusehes is structuring and ested mode of desiring that a. Tow wt eat eel aye the ggie of he pret The ber and ows prison house Weamus sive in the fae ofthe hee and now toa fang ering of sty to think snd fea ther and thre Some wil ay that alle have ae the pleasures of this moment, but we must never sete for thst nna transport we mist drm and enact new and beter pleases, cher ways af being inthe word and ltunarly new weds. Quotes sa leoging that propel us onward beyond romances the negative and ting inthe prseat. Queene that thing thats us el tat this world is not noigh, tht need somethings missing Often we ean glass the worlds proposed and promised by qsermes in the real of the aesthetic. The as thet especially the queer esthetic fesenty contains Blueprints and che rmaa of forward dawning fori: Both the orsnental an the quotidian ‘au contina map fhe utopia that i qoesenee Turing to the esthetic in the exe of queens nothing ike a scape rom the socal realm, iso asqueesestetes mop fare social restion. Queene alo a performs tive because not spy a ela buta doing for and tovard the Fre ‘Quam sesentilly about the section of here ad now and a ns ‘enc on potentiality or rete pony for moder work “That isthe gument ane in Cosing Uo significantly influenced ly the thinking snd language of the German Ideals wadton emanating, From the work f Immanuel Kant and Georg Wilhelm Friedich Hegel An spect of tht Hine of thought ie concretizd in the rita philosophy ab ‘ocited with the Frankfurt School, most notably i the werk of Theodor ‘Adoena, Walter Beajmia, and Herbert Marcuse. Those three thinkers itia the Marxist tation have ll grappled with the complexities ofthe ‘opie, Yet the voce and loi that most touches me, most animes iy thinking, that ofthe phlosopher Enast Bloch. “Mare loosely astetted withthe Franke School thn the aforemen tioned philosophies, Block’ work was taken up by beth iberation theol gy an the Parisi student movements of 1968. He was born in 88S, to an asiniatad Jewish ralway employee in Ludwigshafen, Germany. aang World Wael, Boch Hed Nai Gertany, evenly setting for a time in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Aer the war Bloch returned to East ‘Germany where his Marsan philosophy was seen as to revisionary. At the sume line he wis derided for hi various defenaes of Saints by let commentator tvoughout Europe and the United States. He paris pated in the intelectual cites of Georg Simmel and, late, Max Weber is fiendship and sometime vale with Adorno, Benin, and Georg Luks at noted in uropean left itllectal history Blots pica consistencies and style, which as been descebed as both elliptical and Iyreal bve led Bloch to an land uneven reception. Using Block for {project that understands sl! a part of queer critique i alo «sky move because it hat been rumored that Bloch did not hold very progres sre opinions on iasue of gender and sexuality? These biographical facts are beside the point Beease Lam uring Blochs they nota othodory hutinstead to create an opening in quecr thought. Tam using the ocason and example of Bloch’ though, along with tha of Adorno, Marcuse and ‘ther pidsophers ax a portal to another mode of queer etigue tht de ‘ites from dominant practices of thought existing within quer cxtique tod. nny timation ara to cetain cial teal am be an espe: all sel hermeneutic For some time now I have been working with Bloc ctce-volame Philosophical treatise The Principle of Hope In his exhaustive book Bloch {onsidets an expanded idea ofthe utopan that surpasses Thomas Mores formulation of utopias based in fantasy. The Principle of Hope ofers an ‘encyclopedic approach to the phenomenan of uo, In that xt he di ‘ists all manner of utopia including but not mst to, soe, Merry, techalgil medic and gegape wtp. loch ha had shaker ‘repton tthe US acadeny than have sme of hi ens and aqui fancesaich as Besjmin. For me, Blocks wit has mach to do with the way he theorizes wtopia. He mals rt dsinction bebsen ut uopla and soncce stops, lag abst opis on Instat fs they peace faction that f+ ctl and potently ans irae pola imagination’ Abstract utopia le or Bloch because they ae unetheed fom any Hore consounes Concrete pis feat stray tated stro, calle tha atl ind or potenti tn oor eveyay Mf abstact ops ve ki o banal eptimism (Recent al fir gay or quer optimism ce too clon 1 elite Darmowe raion of poles) Caneete utopias can abo be daca ie bat they athe hopes of eallectie an emergent group, or even the soit adil who isthe one who dreams for many. Contete apis te he realm ofecated pe Ina 1961 lea ted “Can Hope Be Disppote” Bloch describes diferent aspects of edad hopes “Not only hope aft (with its pendant fe) bt even motes hopes mat txdlogy thts pecan memory) dl the regio the oot yea place wheretane and above al al coment ate marked by an edu tng indeterminacy” Ts eso neterminacy i both ae nd met tog ses oa cial process tha i tne owt alan pi inane Giorgia hyphen deere as ote Hop along with #8 otha ear ae aerate that can be esbed a anit. ‘Chnsing Usps fat moe to deserbe 3 elit of eer sop sus that teste whi stot specie nexus of ula pode ton bee aoond an ally afer the Stonevalreblion of 1962. chan apposch to aethete theory invested im descting the a thptory lumina of at which can be character asthe proces ov tenting cata properties hat ean be detected in presentational actcshlping tnt 68 the ot yet concion’ This not yet conscous FE knowable to sme extent «pla feng, When Bloch descr the antcpstry mination of one can understand ths iluiaaton ts surpls of bot fect and mening win the sete. | tack wo pun flings hrughowt the work ofthat Stonewall petod 1 temp 0 Ie sun by flowing an SD ‘HBTs ep Between oe histo sea he preset To thatend my wing brings ny own persona expen 0 anodhe oy tog stoi quer tes wth ed quer experience. MY netion inthisaapect ofthe wring no spl 0 wax anecdotally Bat sted, to rach for other modes of aocitine ngunentton and eidescng Ths when conieringthe work ctor psec Kein Aa, I egge» pou by Elnabuth hop tnd + peor ‘eolecton abot moneent and gener fey, When king Kern NcCany peta contemporary qua an park br censier ‘econ aut pe oneal a Br a Ohio and my pana ony stout rong up ge nd po naan Sinn, Monto ts book in don ace of ter nth NewYork ly ofthe ite ond sas that the Now Yor School f pot th ion enor Chace nce thst st Andy Warhol ary. Cg apa i toutes fram hove tmp mape tat ve bea le ened ohn Oe an Washoe ben. Yet scm sel to open ths bok by Bey iscsi ments inthe wre af ot the pot an he pop ait for the pry itn the pests primary approach ee cla and thee mater aves Aten of Casing Uap hee itheies hoe which both acral fet nls met. ach ofr hope at sheen ad fm the pot of eof hia stag code, such real opis ig short of necesay ‘monde to combat the free of plc pesmi, esate ‘seg fr hope or cil topansm sta mame! when cll nly ‘ei dominated yon aot oe uncon es oot ue tefl el trenton But xo nda te gen a ‘nitinol to etch porta of ee mode of hope th epreset the cones wtopanny dead ee Hi Dolan oes ber own partly Rochin dared mode of peor mance teeta fn Uti Promo pea the he str Deas aml bok ces on etter a ae fo “ing hope My aprach to hoe asia mathedaogy cam Be Bet Se seed a bcd nce ht erat tr vison, Te my Po} ct sr eonating songs gop ont te tat hae etegealy Shaped the Ine objet of penance. Some tse repeat spect ofthe performance tule rjc ince Gav ote eeclent ses ofthe ger proomatve et of gosta pear New York ‘revo ne Dy powerl teste onthe oma an orn Ing nc of ex bjt in pfrmonce ad visa ses and re Notes stil the Brest mph on prov sag desciption ofthe reste athe objet Limoke the he text sn foetal ny own anaes in elation the age inerigtir 2 jest of performace ste “The moder woud ia thing of wonder for Boch, who considers aston: {shment tobe an important philosophical mode of contemplation.” In a sy we can eo this ease of astonishnentin the work of both Warhol and (Ohara. Warhol was fond of making speech act sich a8 "wow" and "yes Allnough this aspect of Wael pestormance of selfs often deseed 38 ‘sincere performance af aavets, Iastead argue that ti manifest tom ofthe utopian fetng thats integral to mich of Washo ar speech, su wating. O'Hara as eve his casual eaders know, was epee beat What if we think ofthese modes of bring in the wor—-Whrhols dng of things, his “wows” and "gees? and O'Hanispoety beng stu ‘ated with acing of fun and appreciation —st a mode of utopian feling but ako ae hops methodology? Thi methodology te mantis in what Bloch described a 3 form of astonished contemplation” Reshape we can understand the campy fscintion tht both men hal with celeb {sbing akin fo this sense of astonishment. Warhols be Liz Taylors or ‘O'Hara's perfect tute to anther salt, the poem "Lana Turner Has (Gollpsed fle, through glamour and astonishment, «kind of transport ‘ora reprieve fom what Bloch called the “darkness of the Wed instant” Asonihiment helps one surpass the lntations ofa alenating present ‘ess and allows one to sce a siferent te and place. Mach of eat at ‘st work performs this astonishment in the world, Hara onstanthy tstonshed by the sity He celebrates the sity benaty and vaso, tl inbis work one often finds this sense of astonishment in quota things (Hans pooms display wban aadscapes af astonishment. The quotidian bjs has this same affective charge in Wahl’ visual work, Bloch aco ‘ed that one could detect wis landscapes in palting and poet Sach landsepes extend nt the tersitory of fatty. Let us bepn by considering Warhols Cake Ble alongaide O'Harss poem “Having Cake with You" Haring Coke with You te even more fin than going San Seas Inn, Hendy, Bart, Bayonne or beings tomy stomach on the Tavera de Grain Brel pay becase in your orange shit you Took ik a beter happier St Sean pay because of my love for you party becase of your ove for reget party Beco of tones cag i und he ches ply Beane of th serey our ies ake on fre people ad atuacy ‘tisha baw when Tin with you ts there an be anything at ll sar as npleasnty df as staunry when agit a fot it Inthe warm New Yor 4 lock igh we are iin ack and forth tween eachother ikea te being though spectacles td he portat show seems to ave no fics init a all est pint Yousuealy wonder why the word anyone ee did hem Mook you and would ther look at you thal ee porritsinthe ‘world ep posi forthe Plu Ruder occasionally a anya i'n the Tick sich hank heaens you hse gone yes we can go ogether the fin tine ° snd the fit that you move so easily moe ot es kes ae of ities just acat home I nee think of the Nl Desig State or a reer hog deavng of Leonardo or Michelangelo tht wed an wet god does lth research ofthe Impress do them hen hey meer ot height person to stand near the tree when the ‘un sank ‘for that mater Maino Mai when he dda pick the rider ‘fly asthe horse itseems they wow al heated of se marvellous expense sich sot going tog waste on me which sy Un ling you shout i This poem tls ys of a quotidian ae, having a Coke with somebody hat ‘signs avast ifeword of quer telitonalty, an encrypted soi, and 2 pian potently The quotidian act of sharing Coke, consuming a ‘common commodity with beloved with whotn one shares secret smile, ‘numps fantastic momentsin the history af at. Though the poem scaly shout the present iia present that is now aguacely the past and in i ‘qterrelationalty promises a future. The an of ving a Coke isa mode ‘ofexhiaration in which one views restructured scaly. The poem tll 's that ere beauty is insufcen forthe asthete speaker, which echoes lochs evn aesthetic theories concerning the vlapian fnetion of art If 2st Tnut were Beauty—according to Bloch iC szply not enough” “The stopian function is enacted by a cartan surplus inthe work hat promises afta, something that isnot quite hee. O'Hara fist men ‘sont being wowed bya highart object before he desebes being wowed bythe lover with whom he shares a Coke Here, though queer sethete ant consumption and quecteationality the writer deseribes mennen im Tue with Feeling of forward dawning fut “The anticipatory lamination of ecrain objects i a Lind of potest fy hat open, indeterminate ke the afetve contours of hope tse “This illamiatin seems to radiate from Warhols on depiction of Coke totes Those si scons which discus in chapter 7, emphasie the products stylish design bine. Potenialiy for Bloch is often located in fhe omamental. The omament can he seen 33 prot pop phenomenon, loch warns that mechanical rerodton, at it glance, vids the o ‘arent Bt he then suggests thatthe oerameatal and the potently he asodates with cannot be seen a diectlyoppostonlt technology ‘or mame prodection "The philosopher proposes the example ofa modemn atoom as this age exemplary ste to see a wopian potentiality, the site here nonkinetinelity and ttl fctonality meee.” Prt of what Whe Tole sy ofthe Coke bottle and other mass podaced objets helps one to seis this particular tension between fanctionalty and nonfunction aly the promise and potentiality ofthe ornament. nthe Plowophy of ‘Andy Wark he artist mse on the radially democratic potentiality he leacts in Caca-Col, Whats gat bout this country i that America are the tation hee che richest consumers buy ess the sume tings the Poorest You can be watching TV and see Cocs Cos and ou Low "hat the Pretend Cok Ls Talo danke Cake, an jst ik, cn ik Coke, 9. Cae sa Cake and no amount of money ‘in et you a eter Coke tha the one the bm onthe corer ike Ing Al the Cokes te the sae andl th Cae a good Li Toe ows the Prenat bum know an you know ‘his isthe point where Warhols particu vesion ofthe queer utopian Impuke croses over with O'Haris. The Coke bette isthe everyday Dep 18s Sa (Fone) alr kor Manag 163/413 7/8 (4s 3 on Andy Wl a) The ay Wl Maa, tag, out Catton Cannan The ny We ton ete Va ese O208| ‘ey Wad Founda re Val A ARS, Now ak noel that represented in dieret fame, laying bare ts aesthetic ‘lmension an! the potently that represents Tats everyday manifes- ition such an object would presen lenated production and consump tion But Warhol and O Hara both detect something ele tn the object of 4 Cake botle and in the at of drinking a Coke with someone. What we {dem from Wath philosophy i the understanding that utopia exits {the quotidian, Both queer caltral worker are able to detect an open: ing and indetenninacy in what for many peopl i a locked-down dead commodity. “Agamben reading of Aristotle De Anna makes the erat pint that the opposition between potentiality and actuality isa strctring binatsm in Western metaphysics" Une a possibility, 3 thig tat sinply might happen, 2 potetilty isa certain mode of nonbeing that i eminent thing dts present bat not actualy exiting the present tens, Looking ta poem writen in the 1960s 1 see + certain potentiality which a that, Point had not been fully manifested, a reational eld where men could Tove each other outside the institutions of eterosersalty and share ‘wold dough the act of inking beverage with each her Using War Tats maxing on Coca-Cola in tandem with OTH words se the past ‘nd the potentiality mnbued within an objet, the waysit might represent ‘ode obi ad feng that war thes ot quite there but onethaless fn opening Bloch wowld pos that such topian feeling can and regu Lay wl be disappointed They are nonetheless indispensable tothe act ofunaging wansormation, This fear of both hope and stop, as affective stuctures and ap proaches to challenges within the soca, has buen prone to disappoint ‘ent, making tis atl approach dificult As Bloch would insist, hope an be dsappointed. But sich dsappoitment needs to be sisked cer {ain impases ane to be tested. A certain afectve reanimation need to {tania sabling pole pessimism ito be displced. Another way ‘of understanding Blocis notion of hope i briely to wake the work of| [JL Austin. In How fo Do Things with Wonds Austin displaces the teue/ fase dichorony that structures Westen metapyscs with dhe mach ore ‘oneeplually supple distinction betwocn the felctous and wflctous™ “Actin trie are derived from understanding the everyday speech ac. Fallotous speech acs ae lngustic articulations that do something a well ny someting, But es Austin aps out the lie of te elttous speech tet we seal the huge that evenusly go wrong andthe flute o nei ity that e bull int the speech act. Blochs hope resonates with Aastins notion ofthe fio insofar a iti aways eventually disappointed. The rents dinsppointment of hope i ota reason to forsake iba etc ‘ought proces, in the sare way that even though we can know in ad ‘anc thi fly of lnguage imately lest noneeles ene “The moment in which I write this book the crits imagination fin peril. The dominant academic climate into which this book i attempt ing to intervene is dominated bya dismal of pli! dea. Shout ing down top san ey iow. Ts perp cen easier than smearing poychoanalyte or daconsractive reading practices with the charge of lin. The antiotopan crite of today as wel worn war chest of past structaralism pets athe or his disposal to shut dawn lines of thought that delicate the concept of exital utopanism. Sock! theory that ‘kes the concept of utopia has always been vulnerable to charges of nz vet, practicality, of lack of rigor While participating onthe Modern Language Assocation pane led "The Aat-Socal Thesis a Queer ‘The ‘cy Targoed fr replacing 3 fllering antelatonal mode of qeer theory wrth a queer stoplunin that highlights a renewed investment in soci thsory (one that alls om not ony celationalty bt lo tury). One of ny co-panaists responded to my argument by exclaiming that there was nothing new or radical about tops. To some degree that tue, nso- fara Cat calling on awellesablshed tation of citcal ies. Tam ales not interested in nation of the radial that merely connotes some rotion of extemity, righteousness, o afimation of newness. My iavest eat in utopia and hope fs my response to quer thinking that embraces 4 politic of the here and now tat fs underlined by what [consider to Ine today’s hamstrung pragsatc gay agenda, Some cies would cll hi ryploprgmatie approach tarrying wih the negative, 1 would wot. To ‘ome dope this book arguments rexponse to the polemic of the sn isan” Although the anilational proach anisted in dismanting sn anticrtcal understanding f quer community, nonatheles quickly teplaced the romance of community with the romance of singulanty and gti: Te vention of queer socal latins tha his book sens to vision i critical of the eommitaran as an absoate vali and of ‘negation as an altnatve all-encompasing Value In this sense the work ‘of contemporary French philosopher Jean-Luc Naney and bis notin of| “sing singular paral seems expecially important. For Nancy the pos: phenomenolegal eateory of being sigue plural addesses the way in ‘which the singularity that marks a singular existence is shay cote ows plral~ebich i to say tha an entity rites as bat pacar, eduction 1 ints iference but atthe same time aways reatona io other singular ties Thus fone tempts render the otologial igoatue of queerness thnough Nancy's erica apparatus, needs to be grasped as both ati tional and relational Antisocial queer theories are inspired by Leo Bertani book Hom, in which heft theovze the o-clled these of anteatonaly 1 have Tong believed thatthe antelatona ar in queer stdies was a partial ce sponse to rit approaches to 4 mode of queer stedies that argued for the etonal and contingent vale of sexual a a extgory. Many ets, hue allowed Bersnisantelatonal tur, but arguably none as suecess filly as Lee Edelman in his book No utr. have reat respect for No Fat and Edelman eater book ffs an aot reading of Joes Bald wits ist Above My Flea” No Faure ea brant and nothing shor of inspiing polemic. Edsian clea announces his mode of agumentation sting in the realm of the ethical, nl thi ntcoicton aa antpation bf eanimated poicalcrtigue and should be ead as an desperate a Teglene tothe poems force of is argument and nosing like an easy lume is argument andthe seductive sway ofthe anteatona thesis energies my argument in key ways. ‘tT nonetheless contend that mos ofthe work with which I disagree under the provisional le ofantiredational thesis” moves to imagine an ‘scape or denouncement of rationality as ist and foremost a distance ing f queemes rom what some theorsts seam to think of 6 the om tamination of eae, genet or other particulates that aint the pacity of senility asa singular trope of ference. In other words, antelational fpproaches fo queer theory are ronances ofthe negative, wishful ink ing an iavestnents in deferring various dreams of cierence “To some extent Craing Utopia i polemic tht argues aginst ant reoionlty by insisting on the esental need for an understanding of {qreress 2 callecivity.Tespond to Bushman aston dat Ue atare UE the province ofthe ehld and therefore not for the queers by arguing that gernes ¢ primarily aboot forty and hope. Tha 5 t0 say that ‘queoress i aba inthe orton, U contend tht if qucernes i to ave ty slog whatsoever, mast be viewed a beng visible ony inthe hor ors My agent is therefore interested in erguing the ontological ee titude that [understand to be partnered with the police of peesentist and prgatc contemporary gay hen The mode of ontological centile Satien represented dhiough a nataton of dsappesrance and negatity that bil down to another gume of fort da. Wit then does a Bochian approach ofa instead ofa poweeil eit ‘al apoletomatd negation? Bloch found sold grounds fora critique of ‘totaling and aaturlizing ida of he present ia his concept of the no- Tnagerconseons™ A tam t the nolonger-consions enabled a cca -ermenetis atone to comprehending the not yet here. This temporal ‘cule performed snd ule the pas and the Ftare st arevaments ‘Combat the devastating logic ofthe world ofthe here and now, a nation ‘of wothing existing outside the sphere othe curent moment yerion ‘of relity that natralizes cultoral logis such a apt and hetronor ‘natty Concomitant Bloch also sharpens our critical imagination with his empsis on hope. An antistopian might ndertand imlf abe ing criti eecting hope, bat inthe rash to denounce he world be missing te pot tht hope is spawned ofa crit lavestment in top, ‘which snething ike naive but, instead, profoundly estat to the stl Fring trporal loge of broken-down present. My tur to Bloch, hope, and utopia isa challenge to theoretical insights that have been stunted by the al of presentnss and various romances of negthity an have thas become rotting and resoundingly antcrtcl This antvtopan theoretical ‘teaag is often nothing move than rte invocation of posteucralst ties The cea races en smmatind a potstrcturai inform ny analysis as much as any other source from which I draw Te covective 1 wish to make by turing to utopias attuned to Eve Kosky Sedgwick tsgue of the way In which paranoid reading practices have Become 59 nel automatic in queer studies that they hae in many ways eased % be eical” Antitopianis in quer studies, whichis more often than not intertwined with antvlatonalty, bas led many scholars to an impasse ‘wherein they cannot see fatty forthe i of them.™ Utopian seadings realigned with what Sedge woud eal reparative hermenetitics™ Although Cnsng Ups routinely rejects what [describe a6 “certain texmance of neatvey’ Ido not want to dismiss the atv ou court. In deed nd some theories ofthe negative to be important resoutces fr the thinking of cecal utopian. For example, Paolo Vino elegantly de sczbes the negation ofthe negation i Mltuder Bebe anotion and [Negatiow Viens resists an oppostional logic that cou certain deploy sents of negativity and instead speaks to what he calls 3 negation that factions a4 "edly of the posible’ “a reresion tothe infinite” Vimo ses a potently in negitine sfc that an be weshaped by neg Udon and made to workin the servic of enacting a mal ofeticl pos sili. Vino’ theory ofthe negation of negation productively lines wp, ‘with Shoshana Felman’ theory of radical agatvitys “Radical negativity (orssying 'n') belonge nether to negation, nor to apposition nor tocar rection (aormalzation’), nor to contradiction (of postive and negative, ‘normal and aboormal Serio and ‘unsecious‘aiy’ and ‘obacaty’)— ‘it belongs precisely to scandal to the scandal oftheir nonoppostion’™ ‘Agua, my argument with the celebration oF negation in ntirltonal «queer critique its participation in what can only be sean asa binary loge of opposition, Radical negaity, ike the negation af negation, offers ‘mode of understanding negli that starkly diferent rm the version ofthe negative proposed hy the queer antisatonist, Here the negative becomes the resource fra certain mode of quer utopian ‘Once agua I tam to a Herary example with the hope of deseibing the performative force ofthat particular queer utopian writing project. A pars ‘ph from Hileen Myles extraotdinary memoir af coming into queer ‘onsiowines inthe 19605 and 70s x especialy salient fr my purposes (Chala isis ral tex fl of fucking, drinking nd other modes of potentially Iecal self-destruction. Near the end of thie testament tothe {ching madnes of lesbian desir, a pomerfl yet diminished Bue bey enter the fame At this point the young poet has become the parttime Carstaker forthe grat queer voice ofthe New York School of poetry — "ume Schuyler Myles attended tothe od ad inne Shaye in is residential nem athe legendary Chlees Hote From is bed he an the show ts lent ow pop now han, snotty Scorpos which be wat, Youd be hettingly starting your nye Hk a carton character runing right in when you relied ‘he Tang wha you wae taking skort ran oo is tention was oot there Iwas hopeless. The yellow ahi oom sce eight the it acme crinkly your theoat became ptched—you el you had simply ecome ark The presence of hie tention wa so tong 0 dey posive—sch a thing bthe you iy desperate words i tht when fra gone youd to step and over in lence gun Then be might ‘eg or pope you could come up wih something ese once he Britenes the ol pared You ba tay lt ar vty engine someday He ase mus Jmmy us, and you had Be ik se {oo toe with him, at understand oot he was condor He nce the yellow alin wow 625 tas marvels to be around Tear hoe and inpansiv. What more in these ws trong str ow alin to hl = Beastial tn he pt ofthe countertenor tnt th ntouction bas ecm wats sgt sa hi usage cold beeen spent Inga antenatal epi and pene Ulan ofthe gee punta for which Ta ging. Anta ln isa pabe tat boro fm Fer omen aa nes when ating ths psge ines aan” Ant-ttopsanism TN Boot enclave or postve vestnt in toi ay and Ieuan ate con too sy sap the sey ectonary pose ‘fdenouning ciel napinaton tht snot locked down by 2 hoe ‘ffl dena fang bth ea Fie moment Ti ‘fesntutpan tance canter the atielonl tum The eine trample ques aizlstonalty in Berns Hom Elmar Fe ten attr ont tinge ‘ifonace nlc say dace string orgie rps ‘ffm acted with oy ale sean anon rf te ey bbs ‘Sr Naybe the bot eal ofan ani atieltiond cee tat old in ‘he weld be another tectaaarintance of eal wangesion The tromeno of pomograpic coma rates Snel Delany work Thm mat meaty to mnd” tnt I shese tos on ‘Stone orwcen young hte sin anda ler gay ite man fecane stn Lind of cig ht stelatna thors ae 80 Wis uate ake cc Scholer On she ve ofp conomy useless easy to ceent fo ute hk of Delany hap ‘Mngt ts cotati a serv economy andthe actives tut fer le page opens puts bet” The ounsr Poet ieee of hopelosnes and eng He» ek a he works he Carte ler ma whove enfin wanes wanes Th elation ‘SNocabout singe pest airman Tels ld th al sort of $lelngs moments of lence a itlenene Bat beyond the wd hat Stands Beteen the te poet thers someting se, ips that tunes ne compat fhe moments of ona Taowgh gut serve economy laces fe snd ne conversant try scone of alt ands oun slants eansermed A ytm {ht tr no snple lato rot atelsnay ebb. Tab he mse at is iomy th be ste Ele the ha ‘feb ena hss nny etn he ell as oom 628° Is Fileen watching ining Its the sense of contemplative awe tat [have , ‘ented in Warts "wows" and O'Hara manic upbeat poe eaence Iki the mood of reception in which Mach asks ws to pantiipte Ii the bing sigue paral of qucenes. tsk the aca negativity that Sho. haa Feloan invokes when trying to describe the fave chats itinsic in JL. Aunins mapping ofthe performative. Thos ea becoming both nimal and child that Myles ulsimatly gps ina lire Schuyes, Tn this passage we see the aticpatory lamination ofthe stopinn can alg the eles shadow play of absence and presse on which the "ntcelationa these rests The affective tone ofthis asage lights the way tothe reparative "This hook has been ween in nothing ike waenam. Ihave writen beside many beloved collaboratrs,intetlocutoes, and comrades And nile these fitends have been a source of proplsion for me, they have expressed qualms about some of the theoretical moves I make in Crustig [isp For example, some fea have asked me why I have chosen (0 wok with dhe more eccentc coxpas of Bloch an not Benjamin's more familar takes on time history, or lst. ve also ben asked how I cold tum toa text suchas Marcuses Eos and Ciena Michel Foocale Famous citigued that work in History of Sesuaity Voie 1, One eeaer ofan eter draft expressed concer that I ake time to talk about Bloch In the context of Marsan thought but do ot cntestatce Heidegger in reson to Naam. Ihave not had any simple or direst annwers for these ‘houghtl zee. Thee concerns have made mo stars of ed 2 st ther situate this project. Ihave resisted Focaule and Benjamin becase ‘heirthought has hoen wel mined inthe field of queer

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