Jonathan A. Allan - Reading from Behind: A Cultural Analysis of the Anus

Jonathan A. Allan holds the Canada Research Chair in Queer Theory at Brandon University, Canada. His work seeks to expand our understanding of masculinities in literary and cultural studies by drawing on queer theory as a model through which to trouble boundaries and to admit the complexity of our identities.

Reading from Behind: A Cultural Analysis of the Anus is published by arrangement with the University of Regina Press, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2 Canada.

www.uofrpress.ca

First published in the United States and Canada by the University of Regina Press.

This edition published in the rest of the world in 2016 by Zed Books Ltd,
The Foundry, 17 Oval Way, London SE11 5RR, UK.

www.zedbooks.co.uk

The right of Jonathan A. Allan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

Cover design: Michael Oswell
Text design: Duncan Campbell, University of Regina Press
Copy editor: Dallas Harrison
Proofreader: Kristine Douaud
Index: Patricia Furdek

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of Zed Books Ltd.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-78360-755-6 hb
ISBN 978-1-78360-754-9 pb
ISBN 978-1-78360-756-3 pdf
ISBN 978-1-78360-757-0 epub
ISBN 978-1-78360-758-7 mobi

Contents

Acknowledgements

READING FROM BEHIND IS A BOOK THAT I NEVER SET out to write but was written in large part thanks to peer reviewers who encouraged me to turn an article into a book. As such, from the outset, let me thank David William Foster for encouraging me to turn that article into this bookin many ways, this book could not have happened without his input, queries, comments, and provocations.

I also wish to thank a range of colleagues at Brandon Universityfor I truly work at one of the most collegial placeswho commented on the manuscript, engaged with me, sent me articles, and above all encouraged me: Emily Holland, Corinne Mason, Allison McCulloch, Doug Ramsey, Serena Petrella, David Winter, and Emma Varley. I also wish to thank Brandon University, my institutional home, for supporting my sometimes curious research. I am especially thankful to the late Carol Steele, the Interlibrary Loan Office, and the entire staff of the Brandon University Library for ordering books and articles that helped to facilitate this research. And thanks to my research assistant, Morganna Malyon, for tracking down sources and proofreading.

Beyond Brandon University, I am especially thankful to all my colleagues in Meeting with Your Writing, facilitated by Jo Van Every. Further still, my thanks to Jeannine Pitas (who also translated the poetry), Brendon Wocke, Frank Karioris, Antonio Viselli, Jesse Carlson, Ricky Varghese, Cristina Santos, Rachel Stapleton, Lukasz Wodzynski, and so many others who read and commented on various parts of the manuscript. And thank you to the anonymous peer reviewers; I am grateful for your kind, careful, and inquisitive readings of this text.

As well, I am thankful to audiences at various conferences who listened and responded to early iterations of these chapters, notably the Department of English at Princeton University, which invited me to speak as I was putting together the final edits, but also the Faculty of Arts Speaker Series at Brandon University (organized by Derek Brown and Allison McCulloch), the Canadian Comparative Literature Association, the Canadian Association of Hispanists, the Sexuality Studies Association, the Red River Womens Studies Conference, the American Mens Studies Association, and others.

The original article that inspired this book was published in Chasqui: Revista de literatura latinoamericana 43: 2 (2014), and is included, with permission (and revisions), as . I also thank Jeannine Pitas for her careful translations of the poetry.

I would be remiss if I failed to note the support of the University of Regina Press, excited about this project from the outset. Bruce Walsh, Director and Publisher, responded to my initial email with interest and generosity, and Karen Clark, Acquisitions Editor, has guided me throughout the entire process, putting up with my numerous questions and offering advice and ideas along the way. Dallas Harrison has been the ideal copy editor, carefully working through each and every sentence, always with a keen eye to find a better way to say something.

On the home front, I am thankful to my family, who encouraged me to keep on writing, even when the writing wasnt happening. And, of course, my gratitude and love goes to Deanna, who has tried, as much as possible, to relieve all of my anxieties about this book.

This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada Research Chairs Program, for which I am immensely grateful, and I wish to extend sincere thanks to the Canadian government and Canadian taxpayers for supporting the Canada Research Chairs Program. Additionally, I received funding from the Brandon University Research Committee.

INTRODUCTION

No Wrong Doors: An Entryway

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. J. R. R. TOLKIEN , The Hobbit

READING FROM BEHIND IS A SHORT BOOK ON THE ROLE of the anus, the rear, the posterior, the behind, the bottom, the ass in literary theory and cultural criticism. I have a basic hunch that the ass is more important than we have cared to admit, or than we have admitted, but only in part. I will argue that the rear can help us to understand a wide range of textual expressions and that reading from behind can illuminate literary and cultural texts in new and exciting ways. However, to do this, we must change our critical postures and anxieties and address what is arguably the most pressing issue: our discomfort with anal things, with other peoples asses, and with the fact that perhaps the ass is filled with meaning that we have not yet attended to for any number of reasons. Its tricky, for despite the apparent discomfort with, and avoidance of, the anus, it fascinates us. In fact, Christina Garibaldi boldly writes for mtv News, Its pretty safe to say that The ass is everywhere it seems, yet, as Lopez reminds us, Its about time that we look at it.

It truly is everywhere, the ass. Consider just a few of the many examples in recent popular culture: the song Honky Tonk Badonkadonk; the iconic behinds of Kim Kardashian and, as noted above, Jennifer Lopez; the twerking booty of Miley Cyrus. Farther abroad is Pippa Middletons famous derriere, which inspired a new plastic surgery trend known as the Pippa butt lift, as reported by the International Business Times. book Assholes: A Theorya defining and hermeneutic work less about the thing itself and more about the kind of person that one might angrily call an asshole (incidentally, he dedicates the book to his parents).