Inquiry research 2018–2019
Inquiry title:
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Queering historical artefacts: what a Queer history!
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Have you said a Queer history?
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Lost fragments and a discovery of a Queer history
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Imagined fragments, my discovery of a Queer history
Definition of terms:
Queering: It is an invented verb by queer theorists in the ’90s, referring to ‘queer reading’. Initially, the verb was used to challenge heteronormativity but became broadly used in film and literature analysis and encompassed subjects such as gender, sexuality, masculinity/femininity, and identity.
Historical artefacts:
There are many illustrative artefacts that show homosexual intercourse. This is what I call a physical Queer history. Many art historians have written about it, which is very interesting. However, queer sexuality was the area of focus in the last project. The inquiry was about a dark queer sexual history, and my response was a transformation of existing historical artefacts into ‘raping scenes’. This time, I returned to the word Queer. Therefore, I made a conscious decision to find real artefacts that have their own historical context and have no direct link with queer discourse or reappropriation. The challenge is to explain with ‘art’ why these sculptures could be interpreted as queer. The aesthetic criteria for queering are: (1) if the artefacts convey male or androgynous gender; (2) if the artefacts have some close connotation to the male reproductive organ (the penis); (3) if the artefacts convey male homosexual love, passion, or lust; (4) if the artefacts strongly convey a male homosexual identity.
A queer (strange) history
In this artistic practice-based research, I will be exploring the meaning of strangeness. I will be using certain visual languages: (1) imitation, manipulation, and transformation of artefacts; (2) the uncanny, digital filtering with different materials and mise-en-scène; (3) finding a contemporary and creative way to display my research for the final year exhibition.
A visible Queer history:
Returning to the beginning of this research, my initial assumption was that Queer history, if there was one, was a transparent one. It would be quite absurd to assume there was not. However, the constructed concept of a Queer identity that we are familiar with today did not really exist before its creation in the late ’70s. Indeed, it was during that time when queer philosophers such as Foucault thought about the problems of sexuality, identity, and the public sphere. Before this ‘sexual revolution’, homosexuality was a scientific term, created in 1869, to describe a mentally ill man, deviant because of his perverse sexuality. However, same-sex desire did exist. Foucault, in History of Sexuality, mentions the term sodomite: a sodomite describes an individual (of either sex) indulging in a shameful sexual practice with the anus. Foucault was aware of the term sodomite because he had read The Summa Theologica. The book described the four forms of ‘unnatural vice’, with ‘the vice of sodomy’ being the worst of all sins.
Also, same-sex desire often existed in the form of the pederasty tradition: a pupil and his master. In western countries, pederasty is known as a Greek invention; for the Greeks, it was a military initiation into becoming a free citizen. Mature men (‘philetor’, also known as the ‘erastes’) were expected to actively seek out and then win over a young boy (‘andreion’, also known as the ‘eromenos’) and teach him through different activities such as hunting, feasting, and sexual relationships, the virtues of becoming a civil man. Ancient Greeks were obsessed with the understanding and respect for the masculine virtues of courage and honour; it was the foundation of their civilisation and their social stability. For millennia, in eastern countries, pederasty was also a common practice among monks and soldiers. Archaeologists think that pederasty might have originated from China, but it can clearly be traced back from administrative documents in the 17th century in Japan. Indeed, the practice of nanshoku, the love between a samurai (Nenja) and his apprentice (Chigo), became so popular among middle-class men that it dramatically shifted the ratio of men to women (peaking at 170 men for every 100 women) within the larger cities. In Arabic countries, there were similar practices too: an Arabic erudite (nitasi) and his serving pupil (al-fata). The al-fata are present in Persian poetry often referred to as Ghilman (also known as Amrads or sadahs, 'beautiful young beardless men'), therefore these poems could be translated as ‘boy love.’ Like the Greeks, Amrads were part of a homoerotic culture where youth and beauty were celebrated: an adolescent that did not have a visible beard. Once the full-grown beard was present on the young adult, he would lose his status as an object of desire to become, in his turn, a desiring subject. These pederasty customs were a universal practice on every continent.
Also, male prostitution coexisted in parallel within every single culture: in China, there is literary and physical evidence of homosexuality that can be dated as far back as the Bronze Age. During the Han Dynasty, which lasted 150 years, many emperors were bisexual or homosexual and had luan tong, male concubines. These young male favourites and eunuchs attained considerable wealth and influence within the emperor’s court. Throughout the centuries, male brothels catered specifically to transvestite actors from the Chinese opera and their liberated patrons. Similar practices occurred in Japan: male prostitutes were called Kagema. Nanshoku (tea houses), often also male brothels, were popular in medieval and modern Japan. Samurai and monks would often visit these public places. It was common that children were sold to Kabuki theatres or brothels at age 10. The Arabic equivalent of child prostitutes were known as Baccha (‘boy play’ or ‘trained young dancers’). This archaic tradition is still really present today. Dominique Fernandez mentioned that in the Arabian Peninsula, it is a current practice that men gather in private apartments or rented suites in hotels. These men bring with them young boys, under the age of 18, and by forcing them to transvestite and dance, and by looking at them, bursting with uncontrollable desire, these parties usually turn into orgies where the teenagers are raped. This practice is also present in the United Arab Emirates. Each year, during a ritual celebration for a few days on the beach, five hundred to six hundred men gather and build a tented camp. Again, for the celebration, beardless teenagers are brought to sexually entertain the older men. During the celebration, the men walk from one tent to the next, and in groups or pairs, they fornicate. Once their homosexual impulses are satisfied, they all return to their families and patriarchal roles.
In India, male prostitutes are often called Hijra (eunuchs or intersex). They are transsexual men who often change their sex in a ritual called nirwaan. The ablation of the penis, scrotum, and testicles is so brutal that most Hijra die in the process of recovery. Once they become women, they have a special status as prostitutes. In Latin America, young prostitutes are called Jinetero.
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