Drag Artists in Shanghai: Balancing Local and Global Influences in Queer Cultural Production
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2957-3645/16728Keywords:
queer, drag, globalisation, futurity, China, ShanghaiAbstract
This article discusses a case study of a group of local and expat drag artists based in Shanghai, China. Theoretical perspectives of “global gay” discourse, queer temporality and Chinese-centric queer theories were employed to question how Shanghai’s drag artists navigate drag’s growing popularity, Chinese state restrictions and Western dominance. Through analysing semi-structured interviews and performance video samples of seven drag artists and one LGBTQ+ venue owner, queer cultural productions in China were explored to ask how they offer new possibilities for queer knowledge production, and propose futurities that are simultaneously transnational and rooted in China. While the influence of Euro-American LGBTQ+ discourse was documented and acknowledged, other perspectives revealed more nuanced conceptualisations of the binary between copy/original, the frictions inherent in cultural exchange, and diverse forms of resistance. Shanghai’s drag scene is evolving in distinct ways, incorporating both global and local influences and cultural traditions. With queer knowledge still largely attributed to the West, and non-Western experiences vastly underrepresented, it is important to recognise what underground cultural productions such as those in Shanghai offer global queer cultural exchange.
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Holland-Muter, S. (2019). Making place, making home: Lesbian queer world-making in Cape Town. Estudos Feministas, 27(3), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9584-2019v27n367311
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Jenkins, S. T. (2017). Spicy. Exotic. Creature: Representations of racial and ethnic minorities on RuPaul’s Drag Race. In N. Brennan & D. Gudelunas (Eds.), RuPaul’s Drag Race and the shifting visibility of drag culture: The boundaries of reality TV (pp. 77–90). Palgrave Macmillan.
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Liu, W., Huang, A., & Ma, J. (2015). II. Young activists, new movements: Contemporary Chinese queer feminism and transnational genealogies. Feminism and Psychology, 25(1), 11–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353514563091
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2024-10-16
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Pryde, S., & Costandius, E. (2024). Drag Artists in Shanghai: Balancing Local and Global Influences in Queer Cultural Production. Social and Health Sciences, 33 pages . https://doi.org/10.25159/2957-3645/16728
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