Queering the No-Name: Upcoming Summer and the Problematic of Representational Impossibility

The term “milky puppy” (xiao naigou) gained popularity as a slang term in Chinese cyberspace since 2017, symbolizing a young, endearing, and adorable male figure, much like the perception of a puppy. This phenomenon, influenced by Hallyu 4.0 and the toshishita romantic motif prevalent in Japanese and Korean popular cultures, has led to the emergence of an “older woman-younger man” relationship pattern as a new trend in Chinese digital entertainment, particularly TV dramas. In this context, the younger, “pet” boyfriend is commonly referred to as a “milky puppy.” This article investigates the transnational flow and cultural translation of the Pet Man imaginary in East Asia, arguing that the bodily rhetoric of “milky puppy” signifies a Chinese variant of moe culture and represents the commodification of the male body. The article presents critical analyses of two recent Chinese TV dramas within this romantic subgenre, Find Yourself and The Rational Life, and compares them to the South Korean drama Something in the Rain. Through this comparative study, the article aims to identify distinctive Chinese characteristics in the portrayal of pet man masculinity in these dramas. By engaging with feminist and governmentality theories, the study explores how gender dynamics in these dramas negotiate between neoliberal subjectivity and the resilience of patriarchal gender norms in postsocialist China.

Abstract: In this article, I examine how formal experimentation shapes the act of witnessing in Carmen Maria Machado’s memoir In the Dream House . By analyzing Machado’s autobiographical depictions of queer domestic abuse, which are refracted through a panoply of genres and forms, I argue that her memoir challenges the belief that testimonial narrative must be formally conventional to be believed. I propose that Machado’s formal experimentation and generic instability encourage a mode of reading that is embodied, affective, and crucially queer as a way to address the structural inequities that govern whose testimonies are believed and why. As In the Dream House queers the testimonial form, both in its privileging of ephemeral evidence and its interpolation of the reader’s agency, I argue that it creates a literary metric through which queer subjects can create their own modes of justice.

The chapter explores how cinematic images are accessed beyond sight, and how the solicitation of senses such as taste and smell creates new systems of social and cultural meaning that affect how queer subjects and communities are constituted on screen. Moonlight (2016) and Call Me by Your Name (2017) provide two examples of food becoming communicator and object of kinship, eroticism, and queer feeling. In Moonlight, sharing a meal exposes its protagonist’s vulnerability as a gay man, and enables him to accept love from other men. In CMbYN communal eating bonds the Perlman family and signifies the rift caused by the arrival of Oliver. In one of the film’s more controversial scenes, food as fetish object allows Elio to explore his sexuality in private, given his anxieties about his burgeoning queerness. The foodways lens particularly lends itself to subversive readings of queer films, where any romantic or sexual activity is already charged with tension and illicitness due to the persistence of homophobia. These images are able to translate queer experiences with great nuance, whilst emphasizing the universality of bodily affects that can engage a wider audience.

In the introduction I conceptualise cinematic narratives of difference and queerness, and the ways in which the queer lens has been used in contemporary Russian and Russophone cinema to interrogate cultural politics, identity and belonging. I also demonstrate how a queer optic facilitates discussions about the complexity of the terms ‘Russian’ and ‘Russophone’ vis-à-vis other cultural identities and queer subjectivities, emphasising the transnational, poly-cultural nature of Russian culture, with queer individuals playing an important role in de-colonising ‘Russia’. In particular, I discuss spaces and geographies of queer experience in relation to new centres and practices of filmmaking in the RF. I showcase the diversity of queer cinematic expressions, pointing at the ways in which the canon of Russian cinema could be revised. The interdisciplinary, multi-scalar analysis interrogates a range of discourses – academic, film criticism, media and politics – and phenomena such as cultural industry and institutions, cultural politics, sociology of queerness, and technology. Making use of a number of examples, I put forward a vision for a theory of contemporary Russian and Russophone queer cinema which expands the knowledge of (world) queer cinemas and (queer) world cinemas.

Reviewed by: Yet to Come by Cris Mazza Matthew Roberson (bio) yet to come Cris Mazza BlazeVOX [books] https://wp.blazevox.org/product/yet-to-come-by-cris-mazza/ In Yet to Come, Cris Mazza puts into play the kind of innovation that's long been a hallmark of her fiction. There might be one overarching narrative in this novel, the story of mid-thirties jazz musician slash music store owner Cal, bearing up under what can only be described as the domestic abuse of his wife, Virginia—but the book unfolds a variety of sub- or supporting narratives throughout, all rendered via distinctive, surprising methods that make the delivery of this book, in some ways, its primary success. What sorts of formal experiments are we talking about here? Most evident are the postcards that tell the story of Lexie, the woman Cal knew and loved when they were both younger, uncertain, and unable to commit to one another. Sent to Cal on a roughly annual basis, and appearing as periodic markers in the larger narrative, these short missives keep Cal—and the reader—up to date on the progression of Lexie's life, as well as the continued longing that both characters feel for one another. But Lexie's story also arrives in other moments, through other means; we see Lexie directly in scenes set in the past; we see Lexie rendered in Cal's ongoing imaginings of her; we additionally get brief narrative interludes that turn the novel toward immediate narrations of Lexie's experiences. All of these different views of Lexie are set off formally, in literal renderings of postcards on the page or through shifts in typographical expression. Other contributing narratives—the tale of Trinity, Cal's stepdaughter, for example—have their own space in the book. Trinity, who also struggles under the oppression of the book's dysfunctional home, with the added challenge of being a dependent teen for most of the time we see here, is given [End Page 192] space to tell her story immediately, in pages of journal entries with a unique, engaging voice and also marked by their own typographic personality. Of course, the actual story conveyed in Yet to Come has compelling, unsettling strengths. The novel develops the ugliness of an unhappy relationship and dysfunctional family with great intimacy and an unwavering view of its main characters' weaknesses, failings, and relentlessly bad behavior. Virginia is the book's chief "problem," to put it one way, but Cal, the main character, suffers equally from almost infuriating passivity and lack of direction—and it's not just his own interests he's failing but also, or maybe especially, those of his misguided and misdirected stepdaughter. There's something quite remarkable, in a way, about Mazza's achievement in staring so directly at this unfortunate story about such ugly characters; although there's not a single character to actually like in this book—or even feel any kind of deep sympathy for—it's also difficult to tear one's gaze away (though it's often unfortunate that the book also seems to so fundamentally dislike its own characters that they fall flat or even, in the case of Virginia, border on caricature). The misery in Yet to Come never falters, either. Narrative turn after narrative turn moves only ever in the direction of the next problem faced by our main characters, whether it be self-inflicted, in the case of Virginia literally buying into her next get-rich scheme or simply buying more than the "family" here can possibly afford, or more insidious and even odious—as when Cal's stepchildren steal from him, endangering his business and the family's well-being. One of the few seeming pleasures in the book, food, is unfortunately and consistently ruined by arguments, a thrown pan, hot grease on the rug. Though we get only snapshots (through postcards) of Lexie's similar suffering, lifelong, the pathos there feels consistently akin by way of disappointing careers, a loveless marriage, and an unending feeling—which is the general "feel" of the entire book—of unfulfilled hopes, dreams, desires. It's impressive how Mazza manages to have these...

ABSTRACTSpace in general is produced through the establishment of certain lines. There are straight lines that enable the affective closeness of certain objects to certain bodies, and there are lines that are aslant – queer lines. Queer lines are considered to be ‘empty’, ‘superfluous’, ‘opaque’, and even ‘deathly’ (in AIDS discourse), and made silent through various social technologies (‘the closet’). Synonyms for resonant include resounding, vibrant, deep, rich, clear, loud, booming, thunderous, deafening, and I would argue that it is exactly these terms that describe the straight line and space, as well as the sounds produced within that space. Indeed, the public (and private) life of heterosexuality is loud and clear, deafening for those who are queer. Analyzing three case studies – sound recordings from the hallway of my building, from Tašmajdan, one of the largest public parks in Belgrade, and ‘the sound of institutions’, such as the church bells in the downtown of Belgrade – I illustrate the complex ways in which straight masculinity and queer subjectivities are being produced in affective relations to the sounds within this space, complicating the boundaries between the private and public in the urban soundscape.

The popularity of slash fiction, a productive strand of fan fiction in which same-sex television or film characters are subversively made into queer subjects, has grown in recent years. The practice of queer readings, which is about repositioning texts outside the borders of heteronormativity, very much resembles some of the basic premises of queer theory, the post-structural theory that contests strict categorical views on gender and sexuality. Unfortunately, slash fiction as well as audience reception practices do not appear to be high on the agenda of queer film theorists. This article argues that queer-sensitive audiences cannot be ignored in research on queer representations and reception in media studies. Moreover, the authors argue for a multidisciplinary approach that includes queer theory frameworks and insights from audience and reception studies as demonstrated by queer readings of non—queer-coded texts such as slash fiction.

ABSTRACTQueer Sinophone cinema includes queer Chinese cinemas outside of China, and queer Chinese films in China that are beneficiaries of peripheral Chinese and global western queer film markets. Located in the margins of Chinese heteronormativity, queer Sinophone cinema questions the ontology of kinship and new queer subjectivities that are produced by the global reordering of Chinese modernity. This article examines the cinema of China's foremost gay film-maker, Cui Zi'en, as an example of queer Sinophone cinema. In particular, it analyses two films, Refrain (2006) and The Narrow Path (2004), to critically consider how Cui's films exploit the discourse of mobile intimacy to reveal gay intimacy as a site of movement between sign, image and constituency; straight and queer men; and ethics of exposure and concealment. As intimate and excentric to Chinese heteronormativity, these films articulate and question how emancipatory and regulatory neo-liberal Chinese gay identities are governed and challenged.

Guest Editor's Introduction: Toward an Archaeogenealogy of Post-truth

<p>From observing the current dynamics of cities and the development of contemporary architecture, great criticism arises in response to the creation of iconic buildings as formal experiments that do not contribute to the local experience. Motivated by this criticism, this paper aims to analyse and understand the importance and the participation of architecture in the construction of a better public realm. The analytical method seeks to understand, evaluate and manipulate the main attributes of a public space based on the features that make it a platform for public life. The analysis focuses on the public realm in three areas of study- the space resulting of the interaction between the buildings, the interstitial space and the constructed spaces. The projects chosen to analyse consisted on iconic buildings by the architect Renzo Piano, due to his international recognition - a body of work shaped by the contexts in which they operate. The projects are situated in global cities and propose new configurations of public space: Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Potsdamer Platz, Berlin; and Saint Giles Court, London. The analysis seeks the features that make architecture successful in the sense that it aggregates people and creates interesting spaces that favour human permanence; the paper evaluates whether the projects of Renzo Piano display these features. Each project has its own particularities. Starting with the dimensions, each project contributes to the public space at a different scale. Nevertheless, the variables analysed were the same for each context, and the effects were considered regarding the proportions and the programmatic possibilities offered by each. After understanding the site and its history, the study of the public life and its local attributes, this paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each building and how they contribute to the specific place. The interpretation of the results took into account not only the present, but also the lifetime of each project, raising some potential problems or successes for the future. It is possible to conclude that the three projects contribute positively to the public space, stimulating urban improvements and constitute good-practice examples, each at a different intensity.</p>

Tolerance is one of the values that is becoming more and more important in different world agendas, especially at a time when theories of conflicts between cultures, civilizations and religions are being furiously propagated, and when the world is facing a multidimensional crisis. Today, tolerance is needed as air. Its spirit should be distributed in all dimensions of life, it must "be applied as a principle in education; we need to build generations in conjunction with this crucial value. (Yilmaz, 2004: 109) Religious tolerance implies the generosity that one shows to another religion, outside of their own; it is a moral determination to keep the supporters of that religion calm in practicing their spirituality in private and public life, although they may absolutely disagree with it and consider it false faith. (Pohle, 1912) Religion and tolerance are related in both theoretical and practical terms. It has been shown by numerous examples in history, close and distant, as well as by the current situation in global terms. Religious tolerance implies that a person does not discriminate another person’s religious beliefs even though he may think that they are or can be wrong. The tolerant way of thinking based on dialogue reduces the number of dogmatic people among the wits, fanatics and extremists among the believers, and tyrants among the politicians. (Šušnjić, 2004: 1, 7-16) The majority of citizens consider religion as a driving force in the way of creation of a tolerant, multiultural and cohesive society. This paper deals with binom spirituality and tolerance in the North-Macedonian Context. Methods use in the research are descriptive, content analysis, case study etc.

Fernand Crommelynck’s dramaturgy and its interpretation by Vsevolod Meyerhold and Les Kurbas

Religion in India is a constantly evolving and transformative phenomenon that cannot be seen in isolation from other dimensions of life. This concise yet comprehensive introduction explores the diverse landscape of religion in India, addressing questions of religious history, everyday practices, intersections with caste, and its role in shaping personal and collective identities in modern India. Methodologically interdisciplinary, it invites critical engagement with the pervasive presence of religion in the public and private lives of Indians and its consequences on an array of institutional and relational registers. It brings to the fore religious actors and interlocutors, nodes and networks, the state and its management of religious difference, and other such compounds that make religion such a vital element of India's body politic. As such, this book is an invaluable primer for general readers, students, and researchers, interested in a simultaneously critical and sympathetic understanding of religion in contemporary India.

Harmony Korine’s <em>Trash Humpers</em>: From Alternative to Hipster

This article discusses the importance of emotions to China’s public life and the way in which the Internet and news media channels have publicized emotional outbursts by the public in China in recent years. An agonistic public sphere is being formed, the basis of which is the expression of emotions, especially hatred, resentment, anger and compassion, both on the Internet and in the news media. As a result, conflicting interests are contested and paradoxes in society are exposed. This development is close to what radical democracy theories conceptualize as an agonistic public sphere. This emotional dimension in public life is a crucial means for China’s subordinated citizens to strive to utilize resources to change the current hierarchy in society. The formation of an agonistic public sphere democratizes communication processes, opens a space for public participation and gives voice to the public who are otherwise silent. The expression of emotions has the potential to break down the Chinese Communist Party’s hegemony.