""Flaming?: The Peculiar Theo-Politics of Fire and Desire in Black Male Gospel Performance examines the rituals and social interactions of African American men who use gospel music making as a means of worshiping God and performing gendered identities. Prompted by the popular term "flaming(g)" that is used to identify over-the-top or peculiar performance of identity, Flaming? argues that these men wield and interweave a variety of multivalent aural-visual cues, including vocal style, gesture, attire, and homiletics, to ...
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""Flaming?: The Peculiar Theo-Politics of Fire and Desire in Black Male Gospel Performance examines the rituals and social interactions of African American men who use gospel music making as a means of worshiping God and performing gendered identities. Prompted by the popular term "flaming(g)" that is used to identify over-the-top or peculiar performance of identity, Flaming? argues that these men wield and interweave a variety of multivalent aural-visual cues, including vocal style, gesture, attire, and homiletics, to position themselves along a spectrum of gender identities. These multi-sensory enactments empower artists (i.e., "peculiar people") to demonstrate modes of "competence" that affirm their fitness to minister through speech and song. Through a progression of transcongregational case studies, Flaming? observes the ways in which African American men traverse tightly knit social networks to negotiate their identities through and beyond the worship experience. Coded and "read" as either "hyper-masculine," queer, or sexually ambiguous, peculiar gospel performances are often a locus of nuanced protest, facilitating a critique of heteronormative theology, while affording African American men opportunities for greater visibility and access leadership. Same-sex relationships among men constitute an open secret that is carefully guarded by those who elect to remain silent in the face of traditional theology, but musically performed by those compelled to worship "in Spirit and in truth." This book thus examines the performative mechanisms through which black men acquire an aura of sexual ambiguity, exhibit an ostensible absence of sexual preference, and thereby gain social and ritual prestige in gospel music circles. ""--
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