Facing Drag : Gender Bending and Racialized Masking in Performing Arts and Popular Culture

Abstract

»Facing Drag« brings together international experts from cultural studies – including history, media, theatre, dance, and performance studies – to explore how gender, race, and ethnicity are impersonated across time and cultures. Drawing on diverse case studies, the volume examines performative acts of crossing, appropriation, and re-signification, foregrounding their political, ethical, and aesthetic dimensions. Expanding the concept of drag beyond gender bending, it investigates the interrelations of drag, processes of racialization and colonial histories. The essays offer critical insights into both the subversive potential of drag and its entanglement with violent forms of Othering and exclusion.