Towards a geography of queer temporalities: Time, space and rural–urban migrant gay men's exploration of sexuality in China

Abstract

Building on the geography of sexualities and queer temporality studies, this research investigates the entanglement of sexuality, time and space with a case study of rural–urban migrant gay men in China. Based on participant observations and in‐depth interviews with 46 Chinese rural–urban migrant gay men, we identify three forms of queer temporality – queer biographical time, queer life stage, and queer clock time – emerging from Chinese gay men's life stories. We also demonstrate how these different forms of queer temporality are conditioned by and influence certain spatial practices among our informants. In doing so, this analysis contributes to the geographical research on sexuality by challenging the rural/urban dichotomy in the existing literature on the one hand, and exploring the possibilities for a geography of queer temporality on the other.

Family and queer temporality among Chinese young gay men: Yes, but not yet

“…Cummings's (2022) research on Chinese gay men in Hainan also suggests that these men often understand their sexual identity as problematising the Confucian heteronormative temporality characterised by obligations of continuing the family line, and therefore become associated with unsustainability, termination, danger and even death. By contrast, our previous research on Chinese migrant gay men suggests that, despite its heteronormative characteristics, these gay men's family of origin also provide various forms of support to their individual development, which, paradoxically, enables them to experience the queer present better or imagine/plan for a queer future (Luo, 2022a;Luo et al, 2022a). Despite their contributions, there is still a need for more comprehensive and systematic reflections on the queer/family dichotomy concerning intersections of different power differentials (e.g.…”

“…In our previous research, we use queer passing-time to describe how Chinese rural–urban migrant gay men adopt a ‘whatever’ attitude to making money and seeking sexual possibilities as long as they are alive and able to make queer use of the capitalised everyday clock time and search for spaces for sexual exploration in the city (Luo et al, 2022a). In this research, however, we go beyond a focus on clock time and regard queer passing-time as a specific way to arrange the present in relation to the absence of an imaginable future.…”

Knowledge production and epistemic politics: A scientometric review of Chinese sexuality studies in English-language academia

“…This has attracted both indigenous and overseas social scientists to conduct empirical research, write, and publish in English on the new sexual landscape of contemporary China, which is different from the old, Occidental image of Chinese sexuality that is mainly based on literature and images of ancient China (e.g. Choi and Luo, 2016; Farrer, 2002; Jeffreys, 2004, 2006; Kong, 2011; Luo, 2021, 2022a, 2022b; Luo et al, 2022; Pan and Huang, 2013; Rofel, 2007; Wei and Yan, 2021; Zheng, 2012).…”

“…We also build on recent discussions on epistemic politics of sexuality research and the possibilities of challenging Western-centrism in sexuality studies (e.g. Brown et al, 2010;Luo et al, 2022;Wilson, 2006) with scientometric analysis.…”