The Problems of Reclamation: Felicity, Perpetua and the
History of Bodily Instability

In the last 15 years, there have been attempts to name Christian historical figures as explicitly gay or lesbian, despite Foucault's warning that this is an a-historical practice. An exploration of the non-normative potential of these figures, however, can still be considered a valid enterprise. Using the early Christian martyrs, Felicity and Perpetua as examples, this paper begins with a discussion of why they have been claimed as proto-lesbian, how this claiming becomes an act of colonial practice, what other descriptive strategies exist, and how these two women could fit into these descriptive factors. Their refusal of a ‘contient’ body is examined in the context of a trans-historical understanding of queerness central to which is a similar refusal of ‘contient’ bodies. In addition, understandings of Felicity and Perpetua's bodily strangeness is compared to current attempts at identifying the larger implications of non-normative bodies....

My Abstract for the PAtristics Seminar, Nov. 14.