Queer Creatures: The Intersection between Queerness and Early Modern Magic in the Works of Shakespeare and Beyond

酷儿生物：莎士比亚及其他作品中酷儿与早期现代魔法的交集

• 批准号: 2726605
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2726605
• 关键词: Queer; Creatures; Intersection; between; Queerness

Magic references using 'ritual activities' to 'manipulate the natural world', while queerness is that deemed 'strange, odd, peculiar' (OED). Both are considered a departure from nature. Queer theory explores anti-normativity, and while it does encompass deviance from heteronormativity, it also encompasses '"otherness" beyond the gender divide' (Morland and Willox, 2005). Queerness 'can never define an identity; it can only ever disturb one' (Edelman, 2004). This 'systematic disturbing of the familiar' (Giffney and Hird, 2008) recalls the belief that magic unsettles the normative, posing a threat to the ordered world. Hence, both magic and queerness are known for transgressing into anti-normative territory.While a number of scholars have discussed intersections between gender and magic in the Renaissance, nothing has been written on intersections between queerness and magic. This is surprising, given that gender is an integral part of queer theory. In Ahmed's Magic and Gender in Early Modern England, for example, there is no mention of queerness or queer theory. When Ahmed writes that witches were perceived as 'not entirely human' and able to 'turn into an animal' (2014), her argument fits seamlessly into queer theory, which pushes 'the boundaries of the possible' (Giffney, 2009) and goes 'beyond the parameters of the human' (Shannon, 2011). Yet she neglects to connect witches' perceivedtransgressions to queerness.My project explores "queer creatures", arguing that those suspected of magic in the Renaissance were inherently queer, and through this, that magic itself is inherently queer. I am doing so by exploring how queerness and magic intersect in plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as in Renaissance culture. Historically, scholars have omitted queerness from the Renaissance, arguably due to living in a queerphobic cultural climate. My research aims to fill in gaps and correct warped heteronormative narratives left by such scholars. I intend to create both a more inclusive space for LGBT+ individuals within early modern studies and to showcase how those accused of magic were discriminated against for their queerness. Thus far in my PhD I have been focusing on The Witch of Edmonton, looking at how Elizabeth Sawyer is accused of witchcraft because of her queerness. For my research I have been using the Shakespeare Institute library, the Birmingham Main Campus library and Early English Books Online.

使用“仪式活动”来“操纵自然世界”的魔术引用，而酷儿则被认为是“奇怪，奇怪，奇特”（OED）（OED）。两者都被认为是偏离自然的。酷儿理论探索了反统计学，尽管它确实涵盖了异义态性的偏差，但它也涵盖了性别鸿沟以外的“其他”（Morland and Willox，2005）。酷儿永远无法定义身份；它只能打扰一个（Edelman，2004年）。这种“对熟悉的系统令人不安”（Giffney and Hird，2008）让人回想起魔术使规范性的信念，对有序世界构成威胁。因此，魔术和酷儿都以侵犯反规范的领域而闻名。虽然许多学者在文艺复兴时期讨论了性别与魔术之间的交叉点，但在酷儿和魔术之间的交叉点上没有写任何文章。鉴于性别是酷儿理论不可或缺的一部分，这是令人惊讶的。例如，在艾哈迈德（Ahmed）在现代早期英格兰的魔力和性别中，没有提及酷儿或酷儿理论。当艾哈迈德（Ahmed）写道女巫被视为“不是完全人类”并能够“变成动物”（2014年）时，她的论点无缝地融入了酷儿理论，它推动了“可能的界限”（Giffney，2009年），并超越了人类参数之外（Shannon，2011）。然而，她忽略了将女巫的感知性转让与酷儿联系起来。我这样做是通过探索莎士比亚及其同时代人以及文艺复兴时期文化的戏剧中的酷儿和魔术如何相交的。从历史上看，学者们从文艺复兴时期省略了酷儿，这可以说是由于生活在酷儿文化的气候中。我的研究旨在填补这类学者留下的差异差异叙事的空白并纠正扭曲的异构叙事。我打算在早期的现代研究中为LGBT+个人创造一个更具包容性的空间，并展示被指控魔术的人如何被歧视。到目前为止，在我的博士学位上，我一直专注于埃德蒙顿的女巫，研究了伊丽莎白·索耶（Elizabeth Sawyer）是如何因其怪异而被指控巫术的。对于我的研究，我一直在使用莎士比亚研究所图书馆，伯明翰主校园图书馆和早期英语书籍在线。