Raising the Bottom

Alix Chapman

ISBN 10: 1478033703 / ISBN 13: 9781478033707

Published by Duke University Press, US, 2026

About this Item

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent mass displacement of black neighborhoods in New Orleans, black queer performers redefined notions of belonging throughout the city. These unlikely figures, such as artists Big Freedia and Vockah Redu, played a significant role in calling the displaced back home and serving as beacons of hope. In Raising the Bottom, Alix Chapman engages in performance ethnography, taking to the stage while writing about the lives of these bounce artists and their extended community. He theorizes an epistemology of the bottom-a way of knowing, praxis, and aesthetic-which contests hierarchies of value that place black and queer bodies at the lowest rungs of the social ladder. By engaging in this bottom episteme, bounce performers leverage pleasure and coalition to transform collectives not meant to survive crisis and disaster. Raising the Bottom shows how black queer artists address, remix, and redirect stereotypes to amplify community power, pleasure, and solidarity.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781478033707

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Raising the Bottom
• Publisher: Duke University Press, US
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1478033703
• ISBN 13: 9781478033707
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.24W x 5.08H x 22.86D centimeters 15.24 centimeters width by 5.08 centimeters height by 22.86 centimeters depth
• Weight: 572 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent mass displacement of black neighborhoods in New Orleans, black queer performers redefined notions of belonging throughout the city. These unlikely figures, such as artists Big Freedia and Vockah Redu, played a significant role in calling the displaced back home and serving as beacons of hope. In Raising the Bottom, Alix Chapman engages in performance ethnography, taking to the stage while writing about the lives of these bounce artists and their extended community. He theorizes an epistemology of the bottom—a way of knowing, praxis, and aesthetic—which contests hierarchies of value that place black and queer bodies at the lowest rungs of the social ladder. By engaging in this bottom episteme, bounce performers leverage pleasure and coalition to transform collectives not meant to survive crisis and disaster. Raising the Bottom shows how black queer artists address, remix, and redirect stereotypes to amplify community power, pleasure, and solidarity.

About the Author

Alix Chapman is Assistant Professor of African American Studies at Emory University.