Queering Space : Heterotopic Life in Derek Jarman's Garden
Journal
Gender, Work & Organization
ISSN
0968-6673
ISSN-Digital
1468-0432
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2010-01-01
Author(s)
Abstract
Understanding the study of sexual spaces as heterotopological, this article argues that, in the context of sexual minorities, new forms of sexual identity that contest the dominant forms are generated and practiced in specific, 'other', spaces and timings, so-called 'heterotopias'. To develop and illustrate this argument, the garden and gardening practices of Derek Jarman are described and analysed as a heterotopic space and practice. To theoretically establish the relationship between sexual difference and (other) space, the notion of heterotopia is connected to the concept of the care of the self that is simultaneously understood as an existential, aesthetic and political activity of (creating) difference. Stressing the dimension of resistance, the care of the self is interpreted as a queer practice that turns a spatial politics of (sexual) difference into one of queering spaces.
Language
English
Keywords
heterotopia
care of the self
resistance
queerness
Derek Jarman
HSG Classification
not classified
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher place
Oxford
Volume
17
Number
1
Start page
45
End page
68
Pages
24
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
49947