Camp talk and citationality: a queer take on ‘authentic’ and ‘represented’ utterance

Abstract

This paper argues that verbal camp, a style usually associated with the speech of homosexual men, demonstrates a citational approach to utterance. Through citationality, camp speakers allude to and manipulate specific devices of interaction in ways that problematize the contribution of these devices to conversational meaning. The result is a conception of the utterance as echoic and ironic, one which creates a specific context of conversational bonding between (queer) interlocutors. It is suggested that the feature of citationality is manifested in three ways: (1) as citations of pre-existing texts and artefacts; (2) as citations of the language medium itself; (3) as citations of a notion of femininity. The latter exploits, in particular, the pragmatic devices of politeness. Alongside the particular gay solidarity that camp citationality allows, the paper further suggests that the property of citationality problematizes the distinction between ‘authentic’ and ‘represented’ (or ‘fictional’) utterance itself.