Mourning leather: Queer histories, vegan futures

Abstract

This article brings memory studies and queer theory into conversation with animal studies through an examination of the process of mourning involved in giving up the use of animal products. Focusing on the use of leather in some queer subcultures, and combining autoethnographic reflection with other forms of testimony, the article argues that giving up leather involves a dual process of mourning: for the lives of the animals whose skins are used in those practices and for the intrahuman attachments and forms of care, pleasure and memory facilitated through those practices. Inspired by recent queer research on leather as a material and ‘mnemonic technology’, the article contributes to research on the use of animal products in the transmission of transgenerational human memory, going beyond food and the heteronormative framework of the family. It also adds new dimensions to the growing literature on veganism by asking readers to take seriously the ambivalence involved in giving up animal products where their use is saturated with memories of human community.