Appalling Bodies: Queer Figures Before and After Paul's Letters

Description

The letters of Paul are among the most commonly cited biblical texts in ongoing cultural and religious disputes about gender, sexuality, and embodiment. Appalling Bodies reframes these uses of the letters by reaching past Paul toward other, far more fascinating figures that appear before, after, and within the letters. The letters repeat ancient stereotypes about women, eunuchs, slaves, and barbarians--in their Roman imperial setting, each of these overlapping groups were cast as debased, dangerous, and complicated. Joseph Marchal presents new ways for us to think about these dangers and complications with the help of queer theory. Appalling Bodies juxtaposes these ancient figures against recent figures of gender and sexual variation, in order to defamiliarize and reorient what can be known about both. The connections between the marginalization and stigmatization of these figures troubles the history, ethics, and politics of biblical interpretation. Ultimately, Marchal assembles and reintroduces us to Appalling Bodies from then and now, and the study of Paul's letters may never be the same. Cover Half title Appalling Bodies Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Prelude: Before and After Romosexuality Queer Reconfigurations Past Paul After This Before 1: Touching Figures: Reaching Past Paul Between Brooten and a Halperin Place How to Get Stuck in “the Middle” with Sedgwick and Butler Toward Some Touching Connections? 2: A Close Corinthian Shave: Trans/​Androgyne Corinthian Citations, Pauline Performativity, and Echoes of Androgyny Ancient Androgyny, Reconsidered Hair-​Raising Androgyny and the Corinthian Assembly? Transgender and Other Mobilizations of Masculinity Resembling and Assembling Female (Masculine) Prophets 3: Uncut Galatians: Intersex/​Eunuch “They tried to write their Gospel on my body”: Defining, Treating, Resisting An Ancient Pal, Against Genital Cutting? A Cutting Joke Facing the Phallus, Cutting to the Fore(skin) “Don’t Quote Ovid to Me” (and Don’t Bother with Paul Either?) Galatian Bodies Beyond Phallic Fixations 4: Use: Bottom/​Slave The Use of Slaves The Use of Onesimus: Chrēsis and Consent, Puns and Patrons Switching Biblical Bonds Other Uses of History How Not to Race Past Attending to the Past Whipping Through Time 5: Assembled Gentiles: Terrorist/​Barbarian Exceptional Sexual The Epistles’ Exceptionalism Barbarians, Among Other Perverse Figures Exceptionalism Rules An Unexceptional Paul Some Alternative Assembly Required Analogy, Anachronism, Assembly: A Contingent Conclusion Epilogue: Biblical Drag Notes Bibliography Index