Technologies of Identity: a Queer Media Archaeology by Jason Lajoie a Thesis Presented to the University of Waterloo in Fulfilme
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Technologies of Identity: A Queer Media Archaeology by Jason Lajoie A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfilment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2019 © Jason Lajoie 2019 Examining Committee Membership The following served on the Examining Committee for this thesis. The decision of the Examining Committee is by majority vote. External Examiner Dr. Constance Crompton Assistant Professor Supervisor Dr. Marcel O’Gorman Professor Internal-external Member Dr. Lisbeth Berbary Associate Professor Internal Members Dr. Alice Kuzniar Professor Dr. Gerald Voorhees Assistant Professor ii Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. iii Statement of Contributions Jason Lajoie was the sole author for all chapters, which were written under the supervision of Dr. Marcel O’Gorman. Portions of chapter 6 were published under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons License. Lajoie, Jason. “Critically Unmaking A Culture Of Masculinity”. Enculturations (29). 18 Nov. 2019. iv Abstract This dissertation explores how queer people use media technology to make and construe their identities through a series of cases extending from the Victorian era to the present day. Each case is driven by three interlocking questions: How have people used technology to make queer identities? How can practices of re-using and repurposing media technology express queer identities? How can the identity of a given technology impact and influence these expressions? Drawing on key texts from gender studies, the history of sexuality and the philosophy of technology, this dissertation first offers a theory of how queer interactions with media technologies can make identities; which it applies to developments of queer identities from the 1890s up to 2018. My media archaeological framework explores the development of terms like gay, lesbian, and gaymer through media systems and reflects on how these terms have influenced the social, cultural and technological networks in which they developed. Using a methodology that engages with cultural objects by situating them within the specific social and technological contexts of their emergence, I explore the obscenity trials of two notable queer authors, Oscar Wilde and Radclyffe Hall, as well as the rise of gay liberation discourses between the 1940s and 1970s. I pay particular attention to the media involved in each instance to show the importance of the technological context to the development of discourses about being queer and expressing queer identities. Other chapters examine the queer potentialities of Alan Turing’s Imitation Game and the pioneering queer magazine Vice-Versa, both created between 1947-1950, to show how media can be queered and produce queer meanings. With this potential in mind, I analyze the discourse of the r/Gaymers subreddit from 2017-2018 by situating it within the technocultural context of its social media platform. To explore this theory in a more concrete way, the dissertation concludes by putting research into practice with the creation of a critical speculative v media object that emphasizes the influence of the gendered discourse on the possibilities for creating media. Taken together, these cases suggest how non-normative identities can be constructed, shared and then understood by others to form links, to develop communities, and eventually to lead lives beyond heteronormative demands. By excavating these media scenes and placing them into correspondence with one another, this dissertation focuses on the role of media technologies in the construction of identity. It shows the consequential role of media technologies in making and sharing identities, and considers how queer identities are informed by the tools used to express them and how the need for queer expression can influence the development of media technologies in response. vi Acknowledgements Any work that can include acknowledgements involves more contributions than can ever be acknowledged, but I will nonetheless attempt to offer some here. The ideas in this dissertation developed over many years, and in conversation with numerous audiences in a variety of contexts, even beyond academia. While I have benefited enormously from the rich diversity of scholarship by attending a variety of conferences throughout my PhD, annual excursions to Canadian Game Studies Association (CGSA), R-CADE and the Society for Science, Literature and Arts (SLSA) are notable for shaping the development of this dissertation, as several of these chapters developed from projects presented there. I am likewise appreciative to the administrations (including my own university) for any and all funds they provided to help me attend. This research was also generously supported by two Ontario Graduate Scholarships and a WK Thomas Graduate Scholarship, in addition to the financial support provided by my institution. Beyond the academic spaces that contributed to the completion of this dissertation, including and especially the shifting locations of the University of Waterloo’s Critical Media Lab, the vital living space for completing the crucial last stretch of this dissertation was graciously provided by Will Fast and Diana Bianchin, whose friendship was equally vital in finishing this work. My thanks and appreciation to my committee, Dr. Gerald Voorhees and Dr. Alice Kuzniar, my internal-external, Dr. Lisbeth Berbary, as well as my external examiner, Dr. Constance Crompton, for committing to help me grow as a compassionate humanities scholar and as a queer person. Your unflinching enthusiasm for my research, even as you so rightly challenged it, has only improved the work, and given me an exemplary understanding of how to be a scholar and even how to mentor future scholarship. Thanks also to my supervisor, Dr. Marcel O’Gorman, who tirelessly nurtured my ideas, and steered my research and writing to roads I would've never thought to travel by. Thanks especially to Josh, for enduring with me. This has made all the difference. vii Dedication For Lucus—catch you on the flipside. viii Table of Contents Examining Committee Membership.............................................................................................................. ii Author’s Declaration .................................................................................................................................... iii Statement of Contributions ........................................................................................................................... iv Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................... vii Dedication .................................................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................................. xi List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................... xii Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Approaches ................................................................................................................................................ 4 Definitions ............................................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter breakdowns ................................................................................................................................ 15 Limitations .............................................................................................................................................. 20 Chapter 1 A Provisional Variantology of Queer Media: 1896-1928 ........................................................... 23 Queer Inscription ..................................................................................................................................... 24 Wilde Matters .......................................................................................................................................... 29 Sapphic Scansion ..................................................................................................................................... 45 Chapter 2 Machine Trouble: Alan Turing’s Queer Imitation Game ........................................................... 53 Turing’s Imitation Game ......................................................................................................................... 55 Making Identity Through Cultural Inscription Systems .......................................................................... 61 Gender and Machine as Socio-Cultural Determinants ............................................................................ 64 Queer Play in Turing’s Game .................................................................................................................