Papers by Sawyer K . Kemp
Routledge eBooks, Apr 4, 2024
“Inclusion” is a rhetoric of human resources and industry. It is a euphemism that travels into th... more “Inclusion” is a rhetoric of human resources and industry. It is a euphemism that travels into the workplace or the academy alongside others like “diversity” and “accessibility” in place of activist language like “justice.” Feminist critic Sara Ahmed (2021) has argued that this jargon and the systems that execute them often allow injustices to persist unchecked within the institution and can indeed obscure and even facilitate racist and gender-discriminatory actions and Dean Spade (2015) has also argued against the mainstreaming gestures of trans liberation that beget violence at an administrative level. In literature and English departments, conversations about the canon necessitate conversations about inclusion. The selection of certain trans authored texts for inclusion on syllabi alongside invitations for trans readings of already canonical works create space for and representation of trans identity. At the same time, we can risk divorcing trans identity and theory from important critical context or reducing it to an overly simplistic extension of existing gender theory. This chapter will explore three contemporary trans authored texts that take a critical view of simple inclusion models: Kai Cheng Thom’s novel Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars (2016), Gretchen Felker-Martin’s apocalyptic horror novel Manhunt (2022), and the Bram Stoker erasure poem “R E D” by Chase Berggrun (2018).
The Routledge Handbook of Trans Literature, 2024
“Inclusion” is a rhetoric of human resources and industry. It is a euphemism that travels into th... more “Inclusion” is a rhetoric of human resources and industry. It is a euphemism that travels into the workplace or the academy alongside others like “diversity” and “accessibility” in place of activist language like “justice.” Feminist critic Sara Ahmed (2021) has argued that this jargon and the systems that execute them often allow injustices to persist unchecked within the institution and can indeed obscure and even facilitate racist and gender-discriminatory actions and Dean Spade (2015) has also argued against the mainstreaming gestures of trans liberation that beget violence at an administrative level. In literature and English departments, conversations about the canon necessitate conversations about inclusion. The selection of certain trans authored texts for inclusion on syllabi alongside invitations for trans readings of already canonical works create space for and representation of trans identity. At the same time, we can risk divorcing trans identity and theory from important critical context or reducing it to an overly simplistic extension of existing gender theory. This chapter will explore three contemporary trans authored texts that take a critical view of simple inclusion models: Kai Cheng Thom’s novel Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars (2016), Gretchen Felker-Martin’s apocalyptic horror novel Manhunt (2022), and the Bram Stoker erasure poem “R E D” by Chase Berggrun (2018).
Shakespeare Bulletin
This essay grows out of an interview with actor, director, and activist Skyler Cooper. In Livermo... more This essay grows out of an interview with actor, director, and activist Skyler Cooper. In Livermore Shakespeare Festival’s 2019 season, Cooper was fêted as the first transgender man to play the role of Othello, but it was actually his second time in the part. Cooper had previously performed a butch lesbian version of Othello in Impact Theatre’s 2005 production. In dialogue with Cooper’s account of the two roles, this essay posits that Cooper’s unique lived experience and performance history illustrate the intersections of gender, race, and trans identity both in Othello and in the contemporary American landscape. Although both characterizations represent cisgender interpretations of Othello as male and female, respectively, this essay engages critical race studies and transgender theory to argue that within and across these productions we can read a third interpretation: a transgender and transmasculine Othello whose experience of racist interpersonal violence, microaggressions, and gaslighting speaks to a contemporary Black transmasculine perspective that is often forgotten or ignored.
Shakespeare Bulletin, 2021
This essay grows out of an interview with actor, director, and activist Skyler Cooper. In Livermo... more This essay grows out of an interview with actor, director, and activist Skyler Cooper. In Livermore Shakespeare Festival’s 2019 season, Cooper was fêted as the first transgender man to play the role of Othello, but it was actually his second time in the part. Cooper had previously performed a butch lesbian version of Othello in Impact Theatre’s 2005 production. In dialogue with Cooper’s account of the two roles, this essay posits that Cooper’s unique lived experience and performance history illustrate the intersections of gender, race, and trans identity both in Othello and in the contemporary American landscape. Although both characterizations represent cisgender interpretations of Othello as male and female, respectively, this essay engages critical race studies and transgender theory to argue that within and across these productions we can read a third interpretation: a transgender and transmasculine Othello whose experience of racist interpersonal violence, microaggressions, and gaslighting speaks to a contemporary Black transmasculine perspective that is often forgotten or ignored.
Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies, 2020
Shakespeare's plays have long been viewed as a space where the boundaries of binary gendered sex,... more Shakespeare's plays have long been viewed as a space where the boundaries of binary gendered sex, sexuality, and desire become murky. However, the contemporary social justice call for trans/gender-inclusivity has been ambivalently integrated into standing conventions of the Shakespeare theater. This essay close reads reviews and advertising materials to argue that contemporary Shakespeare performance is space in which a public makes meaning of gender nonconformism; as such, it is vital for performance institutions to become self-aware of their role in potential education or misrecognition. Recent productions at the African-American Shakespeare Company, the Pittsburgh Public Theater, and the California Shakespeare Theater offer examples of complex and holistic strategies for engaging transgender themes through staging, casting, and outreach programming.
Shakespeare Studies, 2019
Originally delivered as part of the Shakespeare Association of America Next Generation Plenary, 2... more Originally delivered as part of the Shakespeare Association of America Next Generation Plenary, 2018. Transcripts of the papers published by Shakespeare Studies.
Teaching Social Justice Through Shakespeare: Why Renaissance Literature Matters Now, 2019
from the edited collection "Teaching Social Justice Through Shakespeare: Why Renaissance Literatu... more from the edited collection "Teaching Social Justice Through Shakespeare: Why Renaissance Literature Matters Now," edited by Hillary Eklund and Wendy Beth Hyman
This essay uses the case study of the digital game Play the Knave to unpack the historical and th... more This essay uses the case study of the digital game Play the Knave to unpack the historical and theoretical value of declamatory acting to Shakespeare performance. Analysis of the game as a digital object and observations of people playing it when installed in Shakespeare theaters and arts venues reveal continuities between the material practices of acting in Shakespeare’s day and our own, as players adopt a declamatory style of gesture when they play. We maintain that much as the declamatory style functioned in the early modern period as a sign of and a means for amateur performance, so this style can facilitate and mediate communal, collaborative Shakespeare theater today, helping to develop among a wide public new pleasures and competencies in Shakespeare performance.
Short article for e-journal Analog Game Studies
Conference Presentations by Sawyer K . Kemp
Early Modern Trans Drama Conference
October 13 & 14, 2023
Wayne State University
Detroit, Michigan
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Papers by Sawyer K . Kemp
Conference Presentations by Sawyer K . Kemp