Kuaering queer theory : my autocritography and a race-conscious, womanist, transnational turn

W. Lee

Critiquing queer theory's omissions in race and class, E. Patrick Johnson (2001) suggests "quare" studies, a turn similar to that being made from feminism to womanism. I fully embrace Johnson s theorizing. But to make relevant the worlds lying beyond the pale of North America, Europe, and the English language to the study of sexualities and other dimensions of systematic discrimination, I use kuaer theory to make another turn. One that is at once race-conscious, womanist and transnational. I travel through three awakenings, and look into nu nu (female-female) words in Taiwanese and Chinese lesbian existence in different historical periods. I also offer a rhetorical analysis of the title of Ai Bao, the first officially registered Taiwanese lesbian magazine, exploring its persuasiveness via wordplay and multiple entendre. In addition, from jin lan hui to nu tongzhi, from T/puo and lazi to kuer, I provide sketches of heterogeneous and complex Taiwanese and Chinese nu nu worlds. As I get deeper into my autocritography, these women become my women and I learn to utter my own words in a language that is little pre-packaged. My crossing marks a daring but humble beginning. If nothing else, there is at least more space for bringing up race and transnational complicity queerly.[Copies are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Center. The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA]