My Talk from STN3

I had a great time at the Subverting the Norm 3 conference at Drury University. The conference’s topic was political perspectives on postmodern theology, and while my field is far too much dominated by straight, white males, it was clear how much thought went into the keynotes. Thanks go out to Phil Snider, Karen Bray, and Katherine Sarah Moody for organizing.

I presented a talk titled “What Our Four Names Betray.” I was testing a structural theory of discourse from Lacan that figures heavily into my dissertation. My thesis was that religious thought broadly fits one of three reactions (Hysteric, University, and Analyst) against a Master’s discourse. The first few minutes of the recording were cut off due to my user error, but I got most of it.

I should say that I make a claim on neutrality of affect that I’m questioning as a result of my co-panelist and friend Karen Bray. My claim was that analytic thought must remain neutral against the the self-justifying fictions and rightward drift of confessional theologies. I’m not generally a fan of moderation between positions (which inevitably grants too much justification to problematic viewpoints), but while I think an academic needs to maintain at least some of the neutrality of affect exemplified by a psychoanalyst, I definitely see the value of thinking through affect in critical discourse.  Since this was a test run for material in my dissertation, I look forward to taking Bray’s suggestions with regard to queer theory and the use of affect.

That said, here is the audio: