Doesn’t feel all that new since it’s been a while since I wrote this, but I’m glad to see it finally out in the world. This article discusses queer and transgender voices that took part in the South Korean Candlelight Protests of 2016–17 but became sidelined during the special election that followed Park Geun-hye’s impeachment. Drawing from theories of queer temporality and feminist critiques of homogenous time, the article argues that idioms of postponement (najunge) and prematurity (sigisangjo) have significantly shaped liberal political discourses regarding the timing and timeliness of social change and minority politics in South Korea. These normative idioms of temporality articulate the stakes of being out of place in time.
Han, JHJ. 2022. “Out of Place in Time: Queer Discontents and Sigisangjo.” Journal of Asian Studies 81 (1): 119-129.
You can view the article at https://www.doi.org/10.1017/S0021911821001455. If you don’t have access to the journal, email me and I’ll send you a copy.