Anna T. writes in e-flux journal about queer argot as both a safe space queer subjects and site for subverting orthodox culture. She writes, “Language—being regulated by the state, taught in educational institutions, and used to discipline, inform, educate, or structurally violate, among other uses—is frequently subverted by minorities in an attempt to bypass authority.”
Anna T. brings up various queer lexicons that already exist in a multitude of other languages: “I already knew the Greek ‘Kaliarda’ and the British ‘Polari’ from living in Greece and England and associating with the local LGBT and queer communities,” she writes. “After research to find out if the phenomenon has been wider and appeared elsewhere as well, I discovered the Brazilian ‘Bajubá’ or ‘Pajubá,’ the Philippine ‘Swardspeak,’ the Indonesian ‘Bahasa Binan,’ the South African ‘IsiNgqumo’ and ‘Gayl’ or ‘Gail,’ and the Turkish ‘Lubunca.’”
She writes on queer argot’s passivity, not as an analog for inactivity, but a form of non-aggressive, indirect political resistance. “Subjects do not become invisible when talking in these languages; they can actually attract more interest from the public. But at the same time, the content of their discussion remains somewhat sealed and opaque. It is through this practice, which is not vocal (although it is verbal) and which does not actively disrupt the status quo (and yet builds an alternative social space), that passivity is generated as a political action. I am referring to passivity not as a synonym for inactivity, but rather as a variety of tactics that manage to subvert norms in ways that are not initially intended. While such cultural productions (language, music, dance, performativities, etc.) are not created with the intent to take over or substitute normative or mainstream culture, as other ‘active’ modes of questioning would, they are forms of resistance. They refuse to be assimilated and ‘normalized,’ choosing instead to produce an alternative that provides a safer space of expression and which—by the way—also has the potential to mock and subvert the norm.”
Check out the full article on e-flux journal here.