Queering Ecological Narratives through Trans-Corporeal Research Practice

This presentation briefly outlines Queer Theory and Trans-Corporeality in relation to the methodology of research practice, commenting on its importance whilst regarding our relationship with the more-than-human. This talk is keen to play its small part in countering the damaging Western hegemony of what constitutes valid knowledge; limited only to that which can be scientifically verified or capable of logical or mathematical proof. Within the context of the existence of humanity, this particular perspective of ‘knowledge’ (i.e. an anthropocentric, scientifically positivistic, individualistic, colonial, patriarchal, ageist, and ableist one) is relatively contemporary, excluding time-honoured multicultural ways of understanding and communicating intelligence. Trans-corporeality, according to Stacy Alaimo, means that ‘all creatures, as embodied beings, are intermeshed with the dynamic, material world, which crosses through them, transforms them, and is transformed by them.’ By adopting a Trans-corporeal approach, we can consider the ways in which embracing transdisciplinary research practice can evoke significant reciprocal transformations between varying beings across both time and space. Within current sociopolitical contexts and considering the hegemonies which perpetuate climate crises, this research will subvert normative regimes, considering ‘queer’ as a verb and mirroring Meg-John Barker’s statement that ‘we queer things when we resist’. Trans-corporeal research practice resists conventional modes of the academic process, dissolving distinct boundaries between forms, and reconsidering what constitutes valid knowledge. With these considerations being explored from the lens of a transdisciplinary ecopoet and researcher, the talk includes poetry readings and stills from their current research project, Sabbat Verse.