Description
The aim of this dissertation is to locate the concept of shock within a political economy formation that responds to the queer situation of the city of Beirut. Moving away from shock as trauma, I redefine the notion as an investigative tool and lens, transcending a reactionary feeling. Shock, in this context, is understood as a phenomenological and embodied experience that is temporal, affective and relational, one that communicates within a triangulation of triggers, players and culture. Instead of pursuing reasons and causes, the thesis explores shock operations, focusing on how it exists, it maneuvers, and is applied. The dialogue between shock and culture establishes a methodological foundation within Lebanon, specifically emphasizing queerness in Beirut. In a setting where regional disconnects, colonial histories and pseudo religious socio-political powers intersect normativity with continuous instabilities, the research investigates the shock’s affective valence and queer future within its cityscape. I contextualize shock by means of analytical engagements that are informed by culture studies as an essential component for understanding the site and development of a culture that assimilates with shock as it moves along through societies, community dynamics and power structures. I underscore queer theoretical approaches that hone in on the relational figure of ‘the shocking other,’ to reveal the intricate negotiation of implied normativity, difference, and otherness within broader social, economic and political systems. I explore the shock’s navigation in both the digital and material landscapes of Beirut by means of LGBT subjectivities. Through field visits to the city, auto-ethnography, and an analysis of the October 17th protest ground in 2019, I account for embodied shock experiences that document shock traces. Additionally, I integrate conceptual, practical, and lived applications that encourage a reflexive approach, especially when recalling the August 4th Beirut port explosion in 2020. By dwelling on the shock’s destructive path, both literally and metaphorically, the thesis identifies shock as a political tool, particularly advantageous for the queer body. It highlights the economy of shock within discussions of temporalities, emphasizing affective exchanges with established cultural concepts. Furthermore, it serves as a hopeful opening carrying potentiality in its aftermath. This dynamic interplay between shock and culture offers a fresh investigative lens into the evolving human outlook amid unexpected escalations and an abundance of shocks from within the contemporary experience.| Period | 29 Mar 2017 → 8 Jan 2024 |
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| Held at | Universidade Católica Portuguesa |
| Degree of Recognition | PhD |