Joshua M. Ferguson | University of British Columbia (original) (raw)

PhD Dissertation by Joshua M. Ferguson

Publications by Joshua M. Ferguson

Research paper thumbnail of The Haunting of Cronenberg's Cinema: Queer Monsters, Colonized Bodies and Repressed Desire in M. Butterfly and Eastern Promises

Research paper thumbnail of Queering Methodologies: Challenging Scientific Constraint in the Appreciation of Queer and Trans Subjects

Qualitative studies require a queer perspective to challenge stagnant forms of scientific discour... more Qualitative studies require a queer perspective to challenge stagnant forms of scientific discourse. This paper argues for a deconstruction of hegemonic qualitative practices in order to appreciate and listen to queer and trans subjects when employing qualitative research and methodologies. I focus on qualitative methods from an audiovisual perspective to suggest that there is scientific constraint in the way researchers still approach qualitative methodologies. I propose some foundations for thinking about queer qualitative methods that employs queer theory in relation to a self-reflexive creative perspective towards ethics, research and representation. Moreover, I critically analyze the HBO trans documentary, Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She (Antony Thomas 2005), in order to move beyond complacent documentaries that employ interviews as a way of categorizing and containing gender diversity. I work towards future methodological promises for the exploration of queer and trans subjects. Further, this paper challenges the problems of imposing binary-based categories that not only obscure thorough understandings of gender but also perpetuate social injustice.

MA Thesis by Joshua M. Ferguson

Research paper thumbnail of Queer japanese cinema: a rich and diverse cultural history's challenge to hegemonic ideologies of gender and sexuality

There is a rich and diverse corpus of queer Japanese cinema that relates to Japan's premodern cul... more There is a rich and diverse corpus of queer Japanese cinema that relates to Japan's premodern cultural specificities around and apropos of male-male sexuality and non-normative genders. A significant amount of academic work has explored and articulated Japan's queer past; however, Japan's queer cinema has largely been ignored and/or overlooked. The first chapter provides my anthropological foundation for male-male sexuality in the samurai class and queer gendered embodiments through the bishōnen and onnagata. In the second chapter, I explore the West's (particularly, America's) ideological influence on Japan in terms of gender and sexuality.

Research paper thumbnail of The Haunting of Cronenberg's Cinema: Queer Monsters, Colonized Bodies and Repressed Desire in M. Butterfly and Eastern Promises

Research paper thumbnail of Queering Methodologies: Challenging Scientific Constraint in the Appreciation of Queer and Trans Subjects

Qualitative studies require a queer perspective to challenge stagnant forms of scientific discour... more Qualitative studies require a queer perspective to challenge stagnant forms of scientific discourse. This paper argues for a deconstruction of hegemonic qualitative practices in order to appreciate and listen to queer and trans subjects when employing qualitative research and methodologies. I focus on qualitative methods from an audiovisual perspective to suggest that there is scientific constraint in the way researchers still approach qualitative methodologies. I propose some foundations for thinking about queer qualitative methods that employs queer theory in relation to a self-reflexive creative perspective towards ethics, research and representation. Moreover, I critically analyze the HBO trans documentary, Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She (Antony Thomas 2005), in order to move beyond complacent documentaries that employ interviews as a way of categorizing and containing gender diversity. I work towards future methodological promises for the exploration of queer and trans subjects. Further, this paper challenges the problems of imposing binary-based categories that not only obscure thorough understandings of gender but also perpetuate social injustice.

Research paper thumbnail of Queer japanese cinema: a rich and diverse cultural history's challenge to hegemonic ideologies of gender and sexuality

There is a rich and diverse corpus of queer Japanese cinema that relates to Japan's premodern cul... more There is a rich and diverse corpus of queer Japanese cinema that relates to Japan's premodern cultural specificities around and apropos of male-male sexuality and non-normative genders. A significant amount of academic work has explored and articulated Japan's queer past; however, Japan's queer cinema has largely been ignored and/or overlooked. The first chapter provides my anthropological foundation for male-male sexuality in the samurai class and queer gendered embodiments through the bishōnen and onnagata. In the second chapter, I explore the West's (particularly, America's) ideological influence on Japan in terms of gender and sexuality.