In this review I introduce readers to three exemplary ethnographies. All three contribute not only to anthropological and queer studies literatures but also to discourses and critiques of globalization, transnationalism, and neoliberalism. Further, these works destabilize notions of what constitutes ethnography in the general field of queer studies and demonstrate that queer anthropology is imperative to consider in present and future developments in queer theory, methods, and analyses. These texts argue that it is time to move beyond the search for that which is “queer” as emerging from “tradition.” They demonstrate that social constructions of queer subjectivities are ever-changing and emerging in contemporary historical contexts, often in relation to the nation-state and against hegemonic Euro-American notions of what is considered “queer.”
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Book Review|
October 01 2009
IMAGINED, DESIRED: Coming of Age with Queer Ethnographies
A Coincidence of Desires: Anthropology, Queer Studies, Indonesia
Tom Boellstorff Durham, NC: Duke University Press
, 2007
. ix + 292 pp
. Desiring China: Experiments in Neoliberalism, Sexuality, and Public Culture
Lisa Rofel Durham, NC: Duke University Press
, 2007
. ix + 251 pp
. Imagining Transgender: An Ethnography of a Category
David Valentine Durham, NC: Duke University Press
, 2007
. xi + 302 pp
. GLQ (2009) 15 (4): 627–641.
Citation
Lorraine E. Herbst; IMAGINED, DESIRED: Coming of Age with Queer Ethnographies. GLQ 1 October 2009; 15 (4): 627–641. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-2009-005
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