The Terrible We
Thinking with Trans Maladjustment
Published on 4. November 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-1-4780-1868-1 (ISBN)
Description
In The Terrible We Cameron Awkward-Rich thinks with the bad feelings and mad habits of thought that persist in both transphobic discourse and trans cultural production. Observing that trans studies was founded on a split from and disavowal of madness, illness, and disability, Awkward-Rich argues for and models a trans criticism that works against this disavowal. By tracing the coproduction of the categories of disabled and transgender in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century and analyzing transmasculine literature and theory by Eli Clare, Elliott DeLine, Dylan Scholinski, and others, Awkward-Rich suggests that thinking with maladjustment might provide new perspectives on the impasses arising from the conflicted relationships among trans, feminist, and queer. In so doing, he demonstrates that rather than only impeding or confining trans life, thought, and creativity, forms of maladjustment have also been and will continue to be central to their development.
Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award recipient
Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award recipient
Reviews / Votes
"The Terrible We serves as an important guide for those interested in new ways of viewing trans life in both its positive and negative aspects and those wanting to use everyday archives in a method that is more interested in fractures and gaps rather than acceptance and completion." - Jacob Debrock (TSQ) "While the interruption of trans thought's methodological distancing from disability is the central project of The Terrible We, a key intervention is also the book's framing of the relation between trans and feminist thought. Awkward-Rich traces the tense relation between them, and reads this relation from the position of depression." - Stephanie Clare (Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory) "One might not expect a book about bad feelings and mad habits to be a joy to read, but The Terrible We is beautifully written and important. . . . Honest, patient, and calling the reader to critically revisit how the splitting of trans from madness and disability has robbed trans discourse of important history and also depth, The Terrible We is a challenging and very much necessary book relevant to several intersecting constituencies and academic disciplines." - Claudia Schippert (Lateral)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
North Carolina
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
5 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
309 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4780-1868-1 (9781478018681)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
08/2022
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€188.99
Available for download
Person
Cameron Awkward-Rich is Assistant Professor of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and author of Dispatch and Sympathetic Little Monster.
Content
Preface/Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: On Staying with the Terrible We 1
1. Disabled Histories of Trans 31
Holding Space 61
2. Trans, Feminism: Or, Reading Like a Depressed Transsexual 67
3. Some Dissociative Trans Masc Poetics 89
4. We's Company 117
Afterword/Elegy 143
Notes 151
Bibliography 171
Index 187
Introduction: On Staying with the Terrible We 1
1. Disabled Histories of Trans 31
Holding Space 61
2. Trans, Feminism: Or, Reading Like a Depressed Transsexual 67
3. Some Dissociative Trans Masc Poetics 89
4. We's Company 117
Afterword/Elegy 143
Notes 151
Bibliography 171
Index 187