Homosexuality in the Middle East: An Analysis of Dominant and Competitive Discourses
Abstract
The applicability of the category “homosexuality” in the Middle East has recently
been widely questioned: some scholars (e.g. Kugle and Habib) do not hesitate to talk of “homosexuality in the Middle East”, or “homosexuality in Islam”. Others, like el-Rouayheb, Schmitt, Dunne, Najmabadi and Massad, are more careful in applying this category to non-European contexts.
Indeed, when we speak of homosexuality, but also of heterosexuality, we
are commonly referring to two categories which are the results of social and historical developments and which refer to what Foucault has defined as the “psychiatrization of perverse pleasure”, which contributed to the definition and the creation of the category of the homosexual.
A theoretical part of this article is devoted to a critical reflection on what analytical categories we could use when dealing with “homosexuality” in the Middle East. In the second part of the article I will look at the contemporary discourses on homosexuality, looking both at the dominant perspective, where the “classical” approach seems to prevail, and at the competitive perspective, where the “new” approach is appearing.
been widely questioned: some scholars (e.g. Kugle and Habib) do not hesitate to talk of “homosexuality in the Middle East”, or “homosexuality in Islam”. Others, like el-Rouayheb, Schmitt, Dunne, Najmabadi and Massad, are more careful in applying this category to non-European contexts.
Indeed, when we speak of homosexuality, but also of heterosexuality, we
are commonly referring to two categories which are the results of social and historical developments and which refer to what Foucault has defined as the “psychiatrization of perverse pleasure”, which contributed to the definition and the creation of the category of the homosexual.
A theoretical part of this article is devoted to a critical reflection on what analytical categories we could use when dealing with “homosexuality” in the Middle East. In the second part of the article I will look at the contemporary discourses on homosexuality, looking both at the dominant perspective, where the “classical” approach seems to prevail, and at the competitive perspective, where the “new” approach is appearing.
Date Issued
2014-07
Publication Type
Article
Subjects
LGBTQI+ rights
•
homosexuality
•
dominant discourses
•
competitive discourses fatwas
•
contemporary Islam
Language(s)
it
Journal
DEP. Deportate, esuli, profughe
Publisher
Università Ca’ Foscari
ISSN
1824-4483
Access(Rights)
restricted