CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019
| Author | de Araújo, Vanbasten Noronha |
|---|---|
| Title | Shimmery Waste: A Queer Critique of the Narratives on Glitter Pollution |
| Summary | This study explores the relationship between glitter, queer bodies, and the environment, addressing this entanglement through a diffractive investigation that follows the matter/meanings of glitter from manufacture to disposal. In order to rethink the discourses on ‘glitter pollution,’ I rely on new materialist and queer theories that acknowledge the flows of matter/meanings across different bodies and sites. I use glitter as the main matter and figure to conduct this research, structuring my analysis through two axes: the politics of aesthetics and the politics of pollution. Reflecting on the exchange value of shimmery objects and the use of glitter in queer politics of visibility, I critically engage with the visual political economy that is offered by glitter. Regarding aesthetics, I analyze the consumption of glitter by the queer community, having in mind the motivations and meanings that are built around it. First, I address the question of how glitter is taken as a metaphor for visibility within the queer community. Then, I acknowledge the ways this queer use of glitter is criticized from environmental perspectives. Drawing on this juxtaposition of queer and environmental politics, I propose a new perspective, what I call ‘shimmery waste,’ which incorporates both queer and environmental theories. I base this approach on the analysis of the affective and material entanglements between glitter, queer bodies, and nature, claiming that the problem does not rely on the queer use of glitter per se. Instead, I argue that what needs to be addressed is the importance of context and scale, because these two variables determine the political values of waste and pollution. Finally, I contend that this proposed reframing of the relation between glitter and nature is an inevitable first step in thinking about a queer attitude towards waste and pollution. |
| Supervisor | Yoon, Hyaesin; Szczygielska, Marianna |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2019/de-araujo_vanbasten.pdf |
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