Queering the Non/Human

by Myra J. Hird (Editor), Noreen Giffney (Editor)

What might it mean to queer the Human? By extension, how is the Human employed within queer theory? These questions invite a reconsideration of the way we think about queer theory, the category of the Human and the act of queering itself. This interdisciplinary volume of essays gathers together essays by international pioneering scholars in queer theory, critical theory, cultural studies and science studies who have written on topics as diverse as Christ, the Antichrist, dogs, starfish, werewolves, vampires, murderous dolls, cartoons, corpses, bacteria, nanoengineering, biomesis, the incest taboo, the death drive and the 'queer' in queer theory. Contributors include Robert Azzarello, Karen Barad, Phillip A. Bernhardt-House, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Claire Colebrook, Noreen Giffney, Judith Halberstam, Donna J. Haraway, Eva Hayward, Myra J. Hird, Karalyn Kendall, Vicki Kirby, Alice Kuzniar, Patricia MacCormack, Robert Mills, Luciana Parisi and Erin Runions.

Genres: Queer, Nonfiction, Ecology, Gender Studies, Queer Studies, Theory

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[amyleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this collection but found myself a little disappointed. Some of the essays were amazing- Eva Hayward on the starfish and trans healing, re-membering stands out to me as one I will return to. There seemed to be a gap in naming and addressing race here, in relation to queerness and animality, in relation to embodiment, power, reproduction, in thinking about the very category of the human. There is a gaping hole in naming race as at the core of thinking about the 'human'- for whom that category is useful, possible, liberatory.