Queer(N)Asian Im/Migrants’ Connectedness: An Inter-Contextual Decolonial Reading of Wong Kar-Wai's Happy Together

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/decohori.2.0107
• Pages: 107-139
• Published date: 01 January 2016
• Date: 01 January 2016
• Author: Hugo Córdova Quero

ISSN 2422-6343

horizontes!

decoloniales

Número 2!

Año 2016

Resumen

Este artículo aborda los dilemas y las complejas consecuencias de

viajeros-queer como locus donde discursos sexuales, corporales, y

coloniales se interceptan en movimiento inter-contextual. L os im/

migr ante s Q ueer (Y)A siáticos se desp laza n en la int erac ción de

negociaciones identitarias envolviendo historias personales/sociales,

cultura, expectativas género, y demarcaciones corporales. La película

Happy Together constituye la fuente para este análisis. El artículo explora la

condición de interludio de las historias de sus personajes para arrojar luz

sobre el ámbito de la sexualidad y el colonialismo en la vida cotidiana de

im/migrantes Queer(Y)Asiáticos. Luego, se centra en el tono inter-

contextual de dicha película través de la consideración de huellas

coloniales que afectan a la vida de im/migrantes.

Palabras claves: In /migra ntes Queer(Y )Asiát icos, Vida cotidia na,

Estudios decoloniales, Migraciones queer, Intercontextualidad, Estudios

queer.

Resumo

Este artigo aborda os dilemas e as complexas consequências de viajantes-

queer como locus onde discursos sexuais, corporais e coloniais se

interceptam em movimento intercontextual. Os im/migrantes

Queer(Y)Asiáticos se deslocam na interação de negociações identitárias

envolvendo histórias pessoais/sociais, cultura, expectativas de gênero e

demarcações corporais. O filme Happy Together é uma fonte de análise. O

artigo explora a condição de interlúdio das histórias de seus personagens

para lançar luz sobre o campo da sexualidade e do colonialismo na vida

cotidiana de im/migrantes Queer (Y) Asiáticos. Em seguida, se concentra

no tom intercontextual do filme através da consideração de traços

coloniais que afetam a vida de im/migrantes.

Palavras-chave: Imigrantes Queer(e)Asiáticos, Vida cotidiana, Estudos

descoloniais, Migraçãoes queer, Intercontextualidade, Estudos queer.

Horizontes Decoloniales 2 (2016): pp. 107-139

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Queer(N)Asian Im/Migrants’

Connectedness

An Inter-Contextual Decolonial

Reading of Wong Kar-Wai’s!

Happy Together

Hugo Córdova Quero

Graduate Theological Union

ISSN 2422-6343

horizontes!

decoloniales

Número 2!

Año 2016

Hugo Córdova Quero ! Queer(N)Asian Im/Migrants’ Connectedness

Abstract

This article addresses the dilemmas and complex consequences of queer-

sojourners as the locus where sexual, bodily, and colonial discourses

transect each other in an inter-contextual movement. Queer(N)Asian im/

migrants move through the interplay of identity negotiations entailing

personal/societal histories, culture, gender-role expectations, and bodily

demarcations. The film Happy Together constitutes a source for the

analysis. The article explores first the condition of in-betweenness of the

stories of its characters by shedding light on the realm of sexuality and

colonialism in the everyday lives of Queer(N)Asian im/migrants. It then

focuses on the inter-contextual tone of the film Happy Together through

consideration of colonial traces affecting the lives of im/migrants.

Keywords: Queer(N)Asian Im/migrants, Everyday life , Decol onial

studies, Queer migrations, Intercontextuality, Queer studies..

About Hugo Córdova Quero

Adjunct Faculty and Director of Online Education at Starr King School,

Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He holds a Ph.D. in

Interdisciplinary Studies in Religion, Migration, and Ethnic Studies

(2009) and an MA in Systematic Theology and Critical Theories

(Feminist, Queer, and Postcolonial) (2003) both from the Graduate

Theological Union, in Berkeley, California; as well as an M.Div. (1998)

from ISEDET University in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is member of the

research groups Emerging Queer Asian & Pacific Islander Religion

Scholars (EQARS), Multidisciplinary Study Group on Religion and Public

Incidence (GEMRIP) and the Queer Migrations Research Network. He is

also a fellow at the Institute for Theological Partnerships, The University

of Winchester (UK) and at the Institute for the Study of Asian Religions

(CERAL), Pontifical University of São Paulo (Brasil).

Cita recomendada de este artículo!

Hugo Córdova Quero (2016). «Queer(N)Asian Im/Migrants’

Connectedness: An Inter-Contextual Decolonial Reading of Wong Kar-

Wai’s Happy Together». Horizontes Decoloniales 2: pp. 107–139. [Revista

digital]. Disponible en:

[consultado el dd de mm de aaaa].

Este obra está bajo una Licencia Creative Commons!

Atribución-NoComercial-NoDerivadas 3.0

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ISSN 2422-6343

horizontes!

decoloniales

Número 2!

Año 2016

Hugo Córdova Quero ! Queer(N)Asian Im/Migrants’ Connectedness

Introduction

Like a spatial and te mpor al loop, the die geti c

emergence of Buenos Aires is a point of transition that

produces the cultural emergence of Hong Kong, but on

the other side. In its virtuality, Hong Kong highlights

the shared space of Buenos Aires as an everyday

world, evident in the diegesis, where events happen

and engage peop le with physical and mater ial

consequences.

Audrey Yue

In the present global era, contexts seem to reproduce

sameness by intertwining virtual monochromes. Buildings,

streets, or even individuals are constantly (re)shaped into

global trends that almost always entice homogenization.

Even with the pressure of globalization, contextuality is

never erased. On the contrary, context becomes a locus of

resistance and the seedbed for change. Diasporic im/

migrants always carry wit h them their context, and

reproduce it wherever they go, while resisting assimilation.

Paraphrasing Gloria Anzaldúa (1987: 87), im/migrants are

like «turtles» carrying «home» on their «backs wherever they

go.» Queer Asian im/migrants move along similar dynamic

paths while adding «local specificities and indigenous

discourses» (Dasgupta, 2006) to those contexts. How do we

make se ns e of th at process in postcolonial t im es ?

Particularly, is there an implicit decolonization in diasporic

im/migrants that is not always perceived or named but

nonetheless displayed in everyday life?

This article addr ess es t he d ile mmas and complex

consequences of queer-sojourners as the locus where sexual,

bodily, and colonial discourses transect each other in an

inter-contextual movement. Cultural artifacts, such as the

film Happy Together (Wong, 1997), constitute a source for the

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