Abstract

This article notes the historical tendency in Anglo-American queer theory to draw extensively on French thought to formulate its theoretical positions and explores the extent to which this tendency is manifest in more recent writings which take Anglo-American queer thought in a new direction. To this end, it examines writings on the emerging concept of the ‘post-queer’, tracing their debts to French thought — particularly that of Deleuze and Guattari. The article also evaluates how adequately such analyses translate to the context in which sexual minorities and queer theory exist in France and thus how likely it is that the concept of ‘post-queer’, as formulated in North America, will be adopted in French queer thought. It is suggested that French queer theory should not be seen as a consumer of Anglo-American queer theorization, but rather as its critical interlocutor.