What is queer theory and how does it help explain the production of knowledge about sexuality?

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The term "queer" is slang for homosexual. It is also a synonymous of odd, curious or suspect. It is also the most recent in a series of words that have constituted the semantic field of homosexuality. But "queer" is not simply the latest example in a series of words that describe same-sex desire; it is rather a consequence of the constructionist strain of thought which calls into question any supposedly universal term. In recent years, it has indeed been used to qualify marginal sexual self-identifications or to define an emerging theoretical model exploring the contestations of the categorisation of gender and sexuality notably by opposition to the traditional lesbian and gay studies. It is narrowly linked with the post-structuralist movement and with postmodernism focusing on deconstruction and on the role of language. The problem is that, as Michael Warner says "the appeal of "queer theory" has outstripped anyone's sense of what exactly it means ". In fact, the definitional indeterminacy and elasticity of this notion is one of its essential characteristics and its political efficiency depends on its resistance to definition .

Extraits

[...] What is queer theory and how does it help explain the production of knowledge about sexuality? The term is slang for homosexual. It is also a synonymous of odd, curious or suspect. It is also the most recent in a series of words that have constituted the semantic field of homosexuality. But is not simply the latest example in a series of words that describe same-sex desire; it is rather a consequence of the constructionist strain of thought which calls into question any supposedly universal term. [...]

[...] The second explains the queer theory position in the social constructionist versus essentialist debate. Queer theory emerges with the problematising by post-structuralism of gay liberationist and lesbian feminist understandings of identity. It was developed in the late 1980' and early 1990' although there are important antecedents which make it difficult to date. The terms of queer theory were used for the first time by Teresa de Lauretis during a conference on the theorisation of lesbian and gay sexuality at the University of Santa Cruz in 1990[5]. [...]

[...] However queer theory has been criticised in a myriad of way[20]. The efficacy notably the political efficacy of queer theory is questioned but also its potential dangers. According to some people “queer theory radically erodes the last traces of oppressive gender coherence, whereas others criticise its pan-sexuality as reactionary, even unfeminist.[21]” I am now turning my attention towards these critiques, limits and potential dangers and negative-side effects of queer theory. One criticism is epistemological and methodological. Queer theory is indeed very ambiguous, very hard to be defined. [...]

[...] Zalta URL = . Michael Warner cited in Annamarie Jagose, Queer theory: an introduction, (New York: New York University Press, 1996), p.1. Annamarie Jagose, Queer theory: an introduction, (New York: New York University Press, 1996), p.1. David Halperin, Saint Foucault: Towards a Gay Hagiography, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), p Cited in Jagose. Annamarie Jagose, Queer theory: an introduction, (New York: New York University Press, 1996), p.3. David Halperin. "The Normalizing of Queer Theory." Journal of Homosexuality v.45, p.339-343, cited in wikipedia. [...]

[...] Queer theory, unlike most feminist theory, includes a wide range of previously considered normative” sexual practices in its list of identities. Sadomasochism, inversion, prostitution, transgender, bisexuality, intersexuality, etc. are seen by queer theorists as opportunities for more involved investigations into class difference and racial, ethnic and regional particulars[12]. This point of view places this theory in conflict with some branches of feminism that consider prostitution and pornography as mechanisms for the oppression of women.[13] This non-normative approach allows reconfiguring the way we understand pleasure and desire. [...]