“Keeping Condition”: Gender Ambiguity and Sexual Citizenship of Queer Male Thai Classical Musicians

Nattapol Wisuttipat
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Abstract

Abstract Gender pluralism has become a rich scholarly topic in Southeast Asia, especially with the rise of LGBT mobilisations across the region in the past decade. Transgender ritual specialists dominate the field of study, with a growing body of literature on Southeast Asian queer expressive cultures. However, queer performances in several classical performing arts are often excluded from the scholarship due to the field's association with the “traditional”. In this article, I address this scholarly gap by examining the social lives of queer men in Thai classical string music. I focus on a strategy called kep aakaan or “keeping condition” in which the musicians in question carefully articulate and disarticulate their femininity to render their gender nonconformity ambiguous under the heteronormative gaze. Using ethnographic methods to investigate the lived experience of queer male musicians on and off the stage, I show that “keeping condition” is not just about managing the display of queer potential but is also closely intertwined with morality and citizenship. Drawing on the ideas of tacit subjects and contextual sensitivities, I argue that “keeping condition” exposes the fluidity in which queer musicking bodies move between queerness and heteronormativity in ways that are more reconciliatory than confrontational. By focusing on the complicities of queerness and heteronormativity, I argue that non-normative classical performing arts can be a productive site for critical gender, sexuality, and queer studies in Southeast Asia, cutting through the “traditional” and “modern” divide that looms large in the region.
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“保持状态”:泰国男酷儿古典音乐家的性别歧义与性公民
性别多元化在东南亚已经成为一个丰富的学术话题,特别是随着过去十年LGBT运动在该地区的兴起。跨性别仪式专家在研究领域占据主导地位,关于东南亚酷儿表达文化的文献越来越多。然而,一些经典表演艺术中的酷儿表演往往被排除在奖学金之外,因为该领域与“传统”有关。在这篇文章中,我通过研究泰国古典弦乐中酷儿男人的社会生活来解决这一学术差距。我关注的是一种名为“保持状态”(keep aakaan)的策略,在这种策略中,有问题的音乐家会小心地表达或不表达他们的女性特质,使他们的性别不一致性在异性恋规范的注视下变得模糊。我用人种学的方法调查了酷儿男音乐家在舞台上和舞台下的生活经历,表明“保持状态”不仅仅是管理酷儿潜力的展示,还与道德和公民身份密切相关。根据默会主体和语境敏感性的观点,我认为“保持状态”暴露了酷儿音乐身体在酷儿和异性恋之间以更和解而不是对抗的方式移动的流动性。通过关注酷儿和异性恋的复杂性,我认为非规范性的古典表演艺术可以成为东南亚批判性性别、性行为和酷儿研究的一个富有成效的场所,突破了该地区巨大的“传统”和“现代”鸿沟。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
3.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
13
期刊介绍: TRaNS approaches the study of Southeast Asia by looking at the region as a place that is defined by its diverse and rapidly-changing social context, and as a place that challenges scholars to move beyond conventional ideas of borders and boundedness. TRaNS invites studies of broadly defined trans-national, trans-regional and comparative perspectives. Case studies spanning more than two countries of Southeast Asia and its neighbouring countries/regions are particularly welcomed.
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