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This article has been published in: Ocula 22, Be cool. How a Cultural Icon is Born

author: Giuseppe Balirano (Dipartimento di Studi Letterari, Linguistici e Comparati, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Napoli (IT))

Of Rainbow Unicorns. The Role of Bonding Queer Icons in Contemporary LGBTIQ+ Re-Positionings

language: english

abstract: Over the years, queer icons have in the main displayed a dual yet conflicting function: that of cautiously dissimulating reality, while blatantly representing it. This ambiguous play, with its geographical limits and contextual caveats, has provided LGBTIQ+ communities with spaces for the re-appropriation and abrogation of a number of male hegemonic imperatives. This line of action has, however, led to an idiosyncratic positioning since such a political practice may merely represent another marginal stance due to the persisting relation to the hegemonic itself. This paper, while analysing the proliferation of so-called queer iconic objects, will discuss the emerging concept of ‘bonding icons’ and their inscription within an affiliation system as the active community enhancers of the new queer political agenda. The resulting resemiotised discourses seem to re-construct the queer ‘other’ in various ways by reifying it into a similar and relatable ‘other’ whose iconicity is able to provide reassurance and validation while evoking universal empathetic alignment.

citation information: Giuseppe Balirano, Of Rainbow Unicorns. The Role of Bonding Queer Icons in Contemporary LGBTIQ+ Re-Positionings, "Ocula", vol.21, n.22, pp.46-60, April 2020. DOI: 10.12977/ocula2020-7

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