Sex, or the Unbearable - The Library of the Uncommons

English language

Published Dec. 17, 2014

ISBN:: 978-0-8223-5594-6

Sex, or the Unbearable is a dialogue between Lauren Berlant and Lee Edelman, two of our leading theorists of sexuality, politics, and culture. In juxtaposing sex and the unbearable they don't propose that sex is unbearable, only that it unleashes unbearable contradictions that we nonetheless struggle to bear. In Berlant and Edelman's exchange, those terms invoke disturbances produced in encounters with others, ourselves, and the world, disturbances that tap into threats induced by fears of loss or rupture as well as by our hopes for repair.

Through virtuoso interpretations of works of cinema, photography, critical theory, and literature, including Lydia Davis's story "Break It Down" (reprinted in full here), Berlant and Edelman explore what it means to live with negativity, with those divisions that may be irreparable. Together, they consider how such negativity affects politics, theory, and intimately felt encounters. But where their critical approaches differ, neither hesitates to …

Sex, or the Unbearable is a dialogue between Lauren Berlant and Lee Edelman, two of our leading theorists of sexuality, politics, and culture. In juxtaposing sex and the unbearable they don't propose that sex is unbearable, only that it unleashes unbearable contradictions that we nonetheless struggle to bear. In Berlant and Edelman's exchange, those terms invoke disturbances produced in encounters with others, ourselves, and the world, disturbances that tap into threats induced by fears of loss or rupture as well as by our hopes for repair.

Through virtuoso interpretations of works of cinema, photography, critical theory, and literature, including Lydia Davis's story "Break It Down" (reprinted in full here), Berlant and Edelman explore what it means to live with negativity, with those divisions that may be irreparable. Together, they consider how such negativity affects politics, theory, and intimately felt encounters. But where their critical approaches differ, neither hesitates to voice disagreement. Their very discussion—punctuated with moments of frustration, misconstruction, anxiety, aggression, recognition, exhilaration, and inspiration—enacts both the difficulty and the potential of encounter, the subject of this unusual exchange between two eminent critics and close friends.

1 edition

Another Hopeful Fool reviewed Sex, or the Unbearable by Lauren Berlant

Bearable

2 stars

I enjoyed it. Though even on close reading, it went absolutely over my head. I feel like this book does its readers a minor disservice by not recommending some prerequisite reading.

I struggled through most of the book to connect the phantasmic imagery to real scenes or projects, but maybe that's me missing the point--maybe the point of this book is the dialectic between two experts, focusing on fundamental structures of their field?

I don't know what book I would recommend as an intro to queer literary studies, but it's not this one.

I do think this book would probably be great if read by a group, or studied by a class, but as a solitary endeavour it's a bit of a bear.

So like the titular subject, probably better experienced with friends.

I enjoyed it. Though even on close reading, it went absolutely over my head. I feel like this book does its readers a minor disservice by not recommending some prerequisite reading.

I struggled through most of the book to connect the phantasmic imagery to real scenes or projects, but maybe that's me missing the point--maybe the point of this book is the dialectic between two experts, focusing on fundamental structures of their field?

I don't know what book I would recommend as an intro to queer literary studies, but it's not this one.

I do think this book would probably be great if read by a group, or studied by a class, but as a solitary endeavour it's a bit of a bear.

So like the titular subject, probably better experienced with friends.

Subjects

Literature
Literary Studies
Literary Theory
Gender and Sexuality
Queer Theory
Cultural Studies
Affect Theory