Drag Histories, Herstories and Hairstories: Drag in a Changing Scene Volume 2

Description

Drawing on rich interdisciplinary research that has laced the emerging subject of drag studies as an academic discipline, this book examines how drag performance is a political, socio-cultural practice with a widespread lineage throughout the history of performance. This volume maps the multi-threaded contexts of contemporary practices while rooting them in their fabulous historical past and memory. The book examines drag histories and what drag does with history, how it enacts or tells stories about remembering and the past. Featuring work about the USA, UK and Ireland, Japan, Australia, Brazil and Barbados, this book allows the reader to engage with a range of archival research including camp and history; ethnicity and drag; queering ballet through drag; the connections between drag king and queen history; queering pantomime performance; drag and military veterans; Puerto Rican drag performers and historical film. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents Illustrations Contributors Acknowledgements Note Foreword: Such A Drag! Preface Same salad but a different ‘dress’ing Notes 1 Dragging Up the Past The impossibility of a drag history Snatching drag sources Intersections of drag fragments with performance cultures Family lineages – generative processes in passing on drag Community lineages [In]Conclusion Notes References 2 ‘Once Upon a Time, There Was a Tavern’: Metadrag and Other Uses of the Past at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern The Royal Vauxhall Tavern Those Were the Days Readers Wifes Fan Club Royal Vauxhall Happy Birthday RVT Feeling forward References 3 Camp and Drag in the Mainstream: A Critical Study of the Phenomenon of Drag Performance in the Northern British Fun Pubs, 1973–1993 Introduction A camp night out! Notes References 4 Soldiers in Skirts: Cross-Dressing Ex-Servicemen, Sexuality and Censorship in Post-War Britain Introduction Veterans’ cross-dressing revues of the 1940s and 1950s Press reactions The Lord Chamberlain, homosexuality and gender variance Public responses Conclusion Notes References 5 Kinging the Stage: Male Impersonators and Drag Kings, Exploring Shared Historical Narratives Talking about kinging and drag Kinging in the theatre: JOAN Connectedness Notes References 6 A Kiss that Breaks the Spell: Japanese ‘Drag Kings’ and the Homosocial Culture of the Takarazuka Revue Playing the male role: The power dynamics of performing gender A kiss that breaks the spell: The homo-erotic safe-space of the ‘drag’ performance References 7 Camp Can Be Such a Drag: Approaches to Understanding Camp and Drag Pop camp to queer parody Reclaiming the discourse ‘The Camp’ London quean Temporal drag/camp Notes References 8 Vonni Diva: Showgirl Notes References 9 ‘FagHag Drag’: Penny Arcade’s Archive of Otherness Introduction Dragging towards truth telling FagHag: Disidentification and the politics of trauma Drag as an archive of otherness, and some concluding thoughts Notes References 10 Nobody’s Trash: Holly Woodlawn’s Puerto Rican Drag and the Subversion of Authorship Queer Puerto Rican drag aesthetics My trashy lady: The ‘discovery’ of Holly Woodlawn ‘You’re both junk’: Redefining Trash Conclusion References 11 Bibi is a Sissy: Drag, Death by Silence and the Journey to Self-Determination What’s in a name? Brazil 1993 Back to 1993 Horizontal bonds and identity markers Leaving Brazil Conclusion Notes References 12 Mother Sally and the Fig Leaf: Re/Productions of a Carnival Character in Barbados Female impersonation and carnival African and folklore context Commercialization and national identities Current attitudes Notes References 13 The Buttcracker: Dragging Ballet into Queer Places Introduction But why? (Why not?) Herstories and fairy stories Drag acts posing and acts of drag Dismantling through drag Drag foraging and play as methodology Hoaxes Collaboration Notes References 14 Oh Wow! He’s Queer! Queering Panto in Belfast: An Interview with Ross Anderson-Doherty Acknowledgements Notes References 15 Wicked Queens of Pantoland From hags to witches Wicked old fairies Savage queens New queens on the block Dressed to kill New drag for old Conclusion References Index