Talk and Performance: “Invitation to Queer Reading”

What Is Queer Reading?

As you may have guessed from the words “Talk & Performance,” this event was by no means a discussion in the conventional sense (or in the academic sense, perhaps?), nor was it a standard “introduction,” or “invitation.” I initially thought of making it into a dialogue beginning with an introduction to and discussion of Asahi Konuta / ilya’s Queer Lévinas (Seidosha, 2025), published this year, and then talking, together with Hideaki Tazaki, who published Thinking the Interstices (Ibunsha, 2024) last year, and critic Izumi Enaga, about the question of “What is queer reading in the first place?” as well as our respective thoughts and the kinds of “reading” we each practice. At least, that was what I thought for the time being. That is half a lie, though. In truth, Tazaki’s advice had a lot to do with it. In any case, I decided that it would be better to focus the discussion on the subject of “queer reading.”

An Event as a Non-Straight Introduction

Furthermore, rather than making it simply an “Introduction to Queer Reading,” I thought it would be good if it could become a talk event as a “non-straight introduction,” since “queer,” after all, means something that is “not straight.” Why? Because an ordinary lecture wouldn’t be much fun, would it? So I decided to turn myself into a puppet. Rather than talking only about “queer reading,” the discussion ranged across contemporary academia, liberalism and queer, the speaking subject, form and content, identity politics, and many other things. And in the end, I felt that it became a somehow consistent discussion, or perhaps a discussion that was consistent at an angle? That is entirely thanks to everyone who took part.

Queer Creation

I also wanted this to be an event that touched, at least somewhat, on the side of the maker, rather than treating reading as nothing more than interpretation. After all, Toshima is, more or less, on the “making side,” which is to say, generally speaking, on the side that is “read” or “interpreted.” I thought that if someone in that position were moderating the event, it might be more interesting to throw those sorts of subjects into the mix. And so, alongside “queer reading,” I forcibly coined the term “queer creation” and decided to talk about that a little as well. We also touched on the commonality between “creation” and “reading,” and in the actual discussion, stimulating and sharp things were said about questions of theory and practice, the academicization of activism, and so on. Anyway, it was really good. Thank you very much. — TARKY Toshima
(From the note article “Archive | Invitation to Queer Reading” by the TARKY Toshima Selected Works Project, https://note.com/tkyktsm/n/ned7d05491fc4)