Political Aesthetics of Drag

The Political Aesthetics of Drags uses portraits of artists and activists who use drag in Israel/Palestine and Berlin. Rather than take a more traditional academic approach, McGlotten develops the thematic threads of the book through the stories and lives of the performers. Themes emerge through the resonances that are generated in and between the portraits, as the lives and political and creative work of the performers converge with one another in and around their creative practices, everyday activities, their views on the changing nature of their social spaces, and the violences they necessarily navigate. The participants' stories are also interwoven with the author's own experiences conducting the research and particularly the ways that experiences of personal loss shaped their identity as a researcher.