Taking (My) Time: Temporality in Transition, Queer Delays and Being (in the) Present

Atalia Israeli-Nevo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Trans temporalities are usually embedded within a linear progressive force that is directed from the past to the future. Whether embracing a narrative of an ‘extreme’ transformation from one gender to another, or by reimagining the past and claiming that the aspired gender was ‘always there,’ these temporalities ‘jump’ over the present without addressing it. This article aims to illustrate alternative trans temporalities through the notion of ‘taking time.’ Starting with my own autobiographical narrative as a trans woman taking her time with her transition, the article discusses the affective, social, and political meanings of doing a ‘delayed’ transition. Following that, the perspective is broadened to more generalized meanings of ‘taking time,’ analyzed through sociological readings of several trans cultural pieces: Imogen Binnie’s novel Nevada, John Greyson’s web-series Murder in Passing, and the films Jupiter Ascending (Lana and Lily Wachowski) and Tangerine (Sean S. Baker). These analyses will demonstrate the ways in which ‘taking time’ is embedded within the present, a process that incorporates both dangers and hopes for trans lives.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)34-49
Number of pages16
JournalSomatechnics
Volume7
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2017

Keywords

  • Caitlyn Jenner
  • Jupiter Ascending
  • Murder in Passing
  • Nevada
  • Tangerine
  • Transition
  • autobiography
  • queer delay
  • queer/trans temporality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Anatomy
  • Human Factors and Ergonomics
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Law

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