Whatever. A Transdisciplinary Journal of Queer Theories and Studies

Queer paths toward home

Audrey Heffers — 2025-06-30

Queer(ed) families – typically framed through terms such as Found Family, Chosen Family, or Family of Choice – are more often formed by agency and voluntary participation than they are by legal or genetic connections. For the purposes of this paper, kin will be defined by affect, behavior, and declaration. The three fictional texts – Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden, Life of Melody by Mari Costa, and I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane – will serve as a basis to illustrate how kinship is defined, particularly in queer speculative narratives. Speculative fiction allows for particular metaphors of power. These metaphors often tie into agency because the kin unit is chosen even through (or perhaps especially through) hardships and tension. Ultimately, found family and queer kinship revolve around the idea of empowerment. Specifically, this is a kind of empowerment marked by agency and choice without the enforcement of domination or cruel hierarchies. Marginalized characters have the opportunity to try and regain control, to shape their own lives/paths in a world that feels like it is not made for them to survive, nonetheless thrive.

«A utopia of love between equals». Challenging narratives and language exploring non-normative relationships in Die Freundinnen, Entmannung, Le corps lesbien

Rachele Cinerari — 2025-06-30

The aim of this article is to primarily explore three specific examples – Monique Wittig’s Le corps lesbien (1973), Christa Reinig's Entmannung. Die Geschichte Ottos und seiner vier Frauen (1976), and Johanna Moosdorf's Die Freundinnen (1977). Also involving a comparative analysis with other texts, it will examine ways in which writers in 1970s German and French literature attempted to reflect on and represent monogamous and heteronormative norms. These authors sought to depict kinships in their fictional works that exceeded societal norms, challenging power dynamics inherent in the "traditional" family structure. An emerging theme from the analysis is that these writers, focusing on lesbian desire and relationships among individuals socialized as women, reflect on power dynamics typical of heterosexual relationships. Although their perspective might seem somewhat outdated today, being mostly based on on a strong binary framework, it can still serve as a valuable tool for analysing the literary representation of non-normative relationships.
The article places a key emphasis on examining how the explored themes and anti-normative perspectives influence the form and style chosen by the authors.

Arthurian kinship: examining the kinship legacies of Morgan le Fay and Nimue, the Lady of the Lake in Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series

Eyan Birt — 2025-06-30

Using Seanan McGuire’s October “Toby” Daye urban fantasy series as a case study, this essay examines the kinship legacies crafted by the supernatural women of the medieval Arthurian romance tradition as they are perpetuated and reclaimed by female characters in contemporary fantasy romance genres. Invariably helped or hindered by two powerful and ancient fae women known as the Luidaeg and Eira Rosynhwyr, but who are really The Lady of the Lake and Morgan le Fay of Arthurian lore respectively, Toby’s narrative journey reflects a reclamation of Arthurian women. McGuire expands on the use of these powerful women in the medieval lexicon as family makers and court breakers, giving voice, agency, and depth to the often dualed roles of Morgan le Fay and the Lady of the Lake. The Luidaeg, Eira Rosynhwyr, and their niece Toby, may therefore be analyzed together as representations of the subversive power present in Arthurian women, an extension of motherhood’s expectations to move beyond that of passive progenitors and into active participants in the creation of family and legacy.

The logic of Mrs. Madrigal

Anna Ferrari — 2025-06-30

The paper focuses on the portrayal of the character of Anna Madrigal in Armistead Maupin’s series Tales of the City. Through an analysis of Maupin’s style and manner of outlining the character, we will see how the portrayal of this character represents a milestone in queer literature as a rare example of non-struggling, non-tragic trans figure. Reflecting on the intersection of gender-nonconformity and motherhood, we will investigate the influence of the structure of Ballroom Houses on how Maupin portrays the concept of chosen family, which he calls ‘logical family.’ As the home of 28 Barbary Lane has come to represent a utopistic space for queerness and otherness, we will also see how the different on-screen adaptations of the series have dealt with the issue of trans representation, conveying subversion through optimism.