Leo Bersani: Queer Theory and Beyond

Examines the importance of Leo Bersani’s work for queer theory, psychoanalysis, literary criticism and theory, cultural studies, and film studies. For more than fifty years, Leo Bersani’s writing has inspired and challenged scholars in the fields of literary criticism and theory, cultural studies, queer theory, psychoanalysis, and film and visual studies. This is the first book-length collection on this important author. The book’s extensive introduction outlines in detail Bersani’s oeuvre, particularly its place in queer thought and his complicated relationships with the fields of queer theory and psychoanalysis. The subsequent contributions by notable scholars in various fields demonstrate the richness and open-endedness of his work. The book concludes with a new interview with Bersani.“Leo Bersani is filled with erudite, beautifully written, provocative essays that make abundantly clear not only the trajectory and importance of Bersani’s work, but the many ideas that work enables.” — Elizabeth Freeman, author of Time Binds: Queer Temporalities, Queer Histories “These stellar essays offer up important and unsettling insights into one of our most fearless thinkers. Thanks to this collection’s extensive engagements with his body of knowledge, scholars are now able to approach Leo Bersani’s prose—in all of its shattering beauty—in a dazzling new light.” — Scott Herring, author of Another Country: Queer Anti-Urbanism