The Nodal Closet

Abstract

The synthesis of this text comes from a contemporary appraisal of the term “the closet” and its current place in culture since the advent of cybernetics. The authors’ assertion is that this metaphor, one that is rooted in the iconography of the late-capitalist home, is in a moment of transition and constant redefinition. In this paper, the authors explore and assess three basic modern manifestations of the homosexual rite of passage and how they have been rendered obsolete, adapted, or in some respects, catalyzed by new media and mobile technology. The charting of these changes is evaluated as a ’nodal’ phenomenon within queer culture and is paired with Michel Foucault’s notion of heterotopia to better explore the spatial qualities of this shifting circumstance. The closet term is part of a continuum; one marked by intersecting moments of connectivity. In this article, the authors assess the term mainly in relation to a pre-computer era, a personal computer era and a mobile computer/smartphone era.