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

“魔术”指的是通过“仪式活动”来“操纵自然世界”，而“怪异”则指的是“奇怪、奇怪、奇怪”(OED)。两者都被认为是对自然的背离。酷儿理论探索了反规范，虽然它确实包含了对异形规范的偏离，但它也包含了超越性别鸿沟的“他者”(Morland和Willox，2005)。酷儿‘永远不能定义一个身份；它只能扰乱一个人’(Edelman，2004)。这种“对熟悉事物的系统性干扰”(Giffney and Hird，2008)让人想起了这样一种信念，即魔法扰乱了规范，对有序的世界构成了威胁。因此，魔术和怪诞都以超越反规范的领域而闻名。虽然许多学者在文艺复兴时期讨论了性别和魔术的交叉，但还没有关于怪诞和魔术的交叉的文章。考虑到性别是酷儿理论不可或缺的一部分，这令人惊讶。例如，在艾哈迈德的《早期现代英格兰的魔法与性别》中，没有提到酷儿或酷儿理论。当艾哈迈德写道，巫师被认为“不是完全的人类”，能够“变成动物”(2014)时，她的论点与酷儿理论天衣无缝地契合，该理论推动了“可能的界限”(Giffney，2009)，并“超越了人类的参数”(Shannon，2011)。然而，她忽略了将女巫感知到的违法行为与怪异联系起来。我的项目探索了“怪异生物”，认为那些在文艺复兴时期被怀疑使用魔法的人天生就是怪人，而通过这个，魔法本身就是怪异的。我是通过探索怪诞和魔术如何在莎士比亚和他的同时代人的戏剧中以及在文艺复兴文化中相交来做到这一点的。从历史上看，学者们忽略了文艺复兴时期的怪诞，可以说是因为生活在恐怪症的文化氛围中。我的研究旨在填补这类学者留下的空白和纠正扭曲的异形叙事。我打算在早期现代研究中为LGBT+个人创造一个更具包容性的空间，并展示那些被指控为魔法的人是如何因为他们的同性恋而受到歧视的。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古怪而被指控施了巫术的。为了我的研究，我一直在使用莎士比亚学院图书馆、伯明翰主校园图书馆和早期英语在线丛书。

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.