Book Review of "Jewish/Christian/Queer: Crossroads and Identities, edited by Frederick Roden"

Abstract

“The power of ‘queer’ is its breadth,” writes editor Frederick Roden in his introduction to Jewish/Christian/Queer. The volume takes advantage of—and pushes the boundaries—of that wide vastness of possibility for the signifier “queer.” Although the disparity of historical and disciplinary approaches of the essays sometimes threatens to pull the collection apart at the seams, its threads never quite break. And in the end, the risk of pulling apart is worth the reward of a better garment. Few scholars will be familiar with all of the material here: it ranges from a textual analysis of Pauline scripture to a psychoanalytic reading of Freud’s relationship to Rome to an architectural and theological argument for the queerness of Queen Anne Churches, to name a few. A queer group indeed. The radical diversity of material, however, undeniably demonstrates the versatility of queer theories. Ultimately, therein lies the lasting argument of the volume: Queer theory can and should touch religious studies scholarship across discipline and material. Jewish/Christian/Queer becomes Joseph’s coat: Jewish, Christian, contested, beautiful, and queer.