Philoctetes and Antibodies, or the Vanishing Acts of Unruly Queer Bodies

Gian Pietro Leonardi

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Philoctetes and Antibodies, or the Vanishing Acts of Unruly Queer Bodies

In: Fascination of Queer

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Gian Pietro Leonardi

Gian Pietro Leonardi
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 87–97

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9781848880795_010

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Philoctetes – the archetypal wounded hero of Greek mythology, whose role is crucial in the Fall of Troy – has not yet ceased to haunt the imagination of many Western writers and artists. From The Iliad to Sophocles’ eponymous play, from W. Wordsworth to A. Rich, from A. Gide to S. Heaney, and from J. Barry to V. Baldacci, Philoctetes still provides an engaging paradigm for the representation of characters who do not fit into stereotypical and defined social roles. This study aims at investigating and queering the figure of Philoctetes, both by exposing the representational process through which he is produced as a persona non grata, yet so pivotal in the denouement of the plot, and by sexualizing the complex and multifaceted notion of philia. His sufferings and search for meaning, which still speak to us, prefigure a precosmic dimension that encompasses within itself abnormality, immoderateness and queerness. Indeed, his undisciplined and queer body can be conceived as an antibody, a body that refuses to conform to normative standards and pressures. I also wish to consider the gradual and uneven erasure of unconventional bodies from the commodified and globalised forms of popular representations of gay and lesbian people.

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Fascination of Queer

E-Book ISBN:: 9781848880795

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 29 Apr 2011

Subjects
- Social Sciences
  - Cultural Studies
  - Gender Studies

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Philoctetes and Antibodies, or the Vanishing Acts of Unruly Queer Bodies

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Fascination of Queer

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