Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics

There is more to identity than identifying with one's culture or standing solidly against it. José Esteban Muñoz looks at how those outside the racial and sexual mainstream negotiate majority culture--not by aligning themselves with or against exclusionary works but rather by transforming these works for their own cultural purposes. Muñoz calls this process "disidentification," and through a study of its workings, he develops a new perspective on minority performance, survival, and activism. Disidentifications is also something of a performance in its own right, an attempt to fashion a queer world by working on, with, and against dominant ideology. By examining the process of identification in the work of filmmakers, performance artists, ethnographers, Cuban choteo, forms of gay male mass culture (such as pornography), museums, art photography, camp and drag, and television, Muñoz persistently points to the intersecting and short-circuiting of identities and desires that result from misalignments with the cultural and ideological mainstream in contemporary urban America. Muñoz calls attention to the world-making properties found in performances by queers of color--in Carmelita Tropicana's "Camp/Choteo" style politics, Marga Gomez's performances of queer childhood, Vaginal Creme Davis's "Terrorist Drag," Isaac Julien's critical melancholia, and more.

About the Author :
Jose Esteban Munoz (1967-2013) was Professor and past Chair of Performance Studies at New York University. He is the author of Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics and coeditor of Pop Out: Culture and Dance in Latin/o America and Everynight Life: Queer Warhol. Adi Cabral is a classically trained actor, dialect coach, and intimacy director holding their MFA in theater performance from Arizona State University. Their work has been shared on stage at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities (Colorado), the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (Missouri), New Repertory Theatre (Massachusetts), the Stella Adler Studio of Acting (New York), Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company (Texas), The New Hazlett Theater (Pennsylvania), The Hangar Theatre Company (New York), Central Square Theatre (Massachusetts), Latino Theater Company (California), and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland, UK). Adi is a certified teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework and Knight-Thompson Speechwork. As a professor of theater, voice, and movement, their research focuses on inclusive practices for training LGBTQ+ identified actors. Adi Cabral is a classically trained actor, dialect coach, and intimacy director holding their MFA in theater performance from Arizona State University. Their work has been shared on stage at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities (Colorado), the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (Missouri), New Repertory Theatre (Massachusetts), the Stella Adler Studio of Acting (New York), Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company (Texas), The New Hazlett Theater (Pennsylvania), The Hangar Theatre Company (New York), Central Square Theatre (Massachusetts), Latino Theater Company (California), and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland, UK). Adi is a certified teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework and Knight-Thompson Speechwork. As a professor of theater, voice, and movement, their research focuses on inclusive practices for training LGBTQ+ identified actors.