Queer Creatures: The Intersection between Queerness and Early Modern Magic in the Works of Shakespeare and Beyond

Magic指的是使用“仪式活动”来“操纵自然世界”，而queerness则被认为是“奇怪的、奇怪的、奇特的”（OED）。两者都被认为是对自然的背离。酷儿理论探讨了反规范性，虽然它确实包含了对异性恋规范的偏离，但它也包含了“超越性别鸿沟的“他者性””（Morland and Willox, 2005）。酷儿身份永远不能定义一个身份；它只能干扰一个”（Edelman, 2004）。这种“对熟悉事物的系统性干扰”（Giffney and Hird, 2008）让人想起魔术扰乱了规范，对有序的世界构成了威胁的信念。因此，魔术和酷儿都以越界进入反规范领域而闻名。虽然许多学者讨论了文艺复兴时期性别和魔法之间的交集，但没有人写过酷儿和魔法之间的交集。这是令人惊讶的，因为性别是酷儿理论的一个组成部分。例如，在艾哈迈德的《现代早期英格兰的魔法与性别》一书中，就没有提到酷儿或酷儿理论。艾哈迈德写道，女巫被认为“不完全是人类”，能够“变成动物”（2014年），她的论点与酷儿理论完美契合，后者推动了“可能的界限”（吉夫尼，2009年），并“超越了人类的界限”（香农，2011年）。然而，她忽略了将女巫的越轨行为与酷儿身份联系起来。我的项目探讨了“奇怪的生物”，认为文艺复兴时期那些被怀疑是魔法的人本质上是奇怪的，通过这一点，魔法本身本质上是奇怪的。我通过探索酷儿和魔法在莎士比亚和他同时代的戏剧以及文艺复兴文化中是如何交织在一起的。从历史上看，学者们忽略了文艺复兴时期的酷儿问题，可以说是由于生活在一个对酷儿恐惧的文化氛围中。我的研究旨在填补空白，纠正这些学者留下的扭曲的异性恋叙事。我打算在早期的现代研究中为LGBT+个体创造一个更具包容性的空间，并展示那些被指控使用魔法的人是如何因为他们的酷儿身份而受到歧视的。到目前为止，在我的博士学位上，我一直专注于埃德蒙顿的女巫，研究伊丽莎白·索耶是如何因为她的酷儿身份而被指控为巫师的。为了我的研究，我一直在使用莎士比亚学院图书馆，伯明翰主校区图书馆和早期英语书籍在线。

Magic references using 'ritual activities' to 'manipulate the natural world', while queerness is that deemed 'strange, odd, peculiar' (OED). Both are considered a departure from nature. Queer theory explores anti-normativity, and while it does encompass deviance from heteronormativity, it also encompasses '"otherness" beyond the gender divide' (Morland and Willox, 2005). Queerness 'can never define an identity; it can only ever disturb one' (Edelman, 2004). This 'systematic disturbing of the familiar' (Giffney and Hird, 2008) recalls the belief that magic unsettles the normative, posing a threat to the ordered world. Hence, both magic and queerness are known for transgressing into anti-normative territory.While a number of scholars have discussed intersections between gender and magic in the Renaissance, nothing has been written on intersections between queerness and magic. This is surprising, given that gender is an integral part of queer theory. In Ahmed's Magic and Gender in Early Modern England, for example, there is no mention of queerness or queer theory. When Ahmed writes that witches were perceived as 'not entirely human' and able to 'turn into an animal' (2014), her argument fits seamlessly into queer theory, which pushes 'the boundaries of the possible' (Giffney, 2009) and goes 'beyond the parameters of the human' (Shannon, 2011). Yet she neglects to connect witches' perceivedtransgressions to queerness.My project explores "queer creatures", arguing that those suspected of magic in the Renaissance were inherently queer, and through this, that magic itself is inherently queer. I am doing so by exploring how queerness and magic intersect in plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as in Renaissance culture. Historically, scholars have omitted queerness from the Renaissance, arguably due to living in a queerphobic cultural climate. My research aims to fill in gaps and correct warped heteronormative narratives left by such scholars. I intend to create both a more inclusive space for LGBT+ individuals within early modern studies and to showcase how those accused of magic were discriminated against for their queerness. Thus far in my PhD I have been focusing on The Witch of Edmonton, looking at how Elizabeth Sawyer is accused of witchcraft because of her queerness. For my research I have been using the Shakespeare Institute library, the Birmingham Main Campus library and Early English Books Online.