Lee Edelman and the Queer Study of Religion

This book takes the groundbreaking work of Lee Edelman in queer theory and, for the first time, demonstrates its importance and relevance to contemporary theology, biblical studies, and religious studies. It argues that despite extensive interest in Edelman’s work, we have barely begun to understand the significance of Edelman’s ideas both in their own right and with respect to the study of religion. Therefore, it offers fresh approaches to Edelman’s work that necessarily complicate the established interpretations of his thinking. With essays by rising and established scholars, as well as a response by Edelman himself, it contends that by fully engaging Edelman, scholars of religion will have to confront negativity and its consequences in ways that will contribute to reshaping the terrain of scholarship on religion, race, sexuality, and social change. The insights provided in this book are new territory for much of the study of religion. As such, it will be of keen interest to scholars of religious studies, theology, and Biblical studies, as well as gender studies and queer, feminist, and critical race theory.

Kent L. Brintnall is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte affiliated with the Department of Religious Studies and the Women’s & Gender Studies Program.

Rhiannon Graybill is the Marcus M. and Carole M. Weinstein & Gilbert M. and Fannie S. Rosenthal Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Richmond.

Linn Marie Tonstad is Associate Professor of Theology, Religion, and Sexuality at Yale Divinity School.