Muñoz and the Mystical Tradition
Kris Trujillo
GLQ October 1, 2026 DOI: 10.1215/10642684-12601651 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Key points | Argues that Muñoz's turn to religion, exemplified by Teresa of Ávila, offers an alternative to the Muñoz–Edelman binary over queer futurity. Contends that the Christian mystical tradition shifts queer of color critique's temporal orientation to the Middle Ages and highlights the inseparability of queer community formation and queer negation. |
Abstract
José Esteban Muñoz's Cruising Utopia has assumed an emblematic status in queer of color critique's temporal orientation by cementing its attachment to the future. This association between queer of color critique and queer futurity emerges in large part from its opposition to the so-called antisocial thesis in queer theory—an opposition that is infamously staged as a conflict between Muñoz's utopianism and Lee Edelman's polemic against reproductive futurity. This essay proffers an opportunity to escape from the quagmire of this binary with a turn to the premodern past. I suggest that Muñoz's turn to religion makes available an alternative way of conceiving relationality and antirelatonality in the example of Teresa of Ávila. Ultimately, the Christian mystical tradition not only shifts queer of color critique's temporal orientation to the Middle Ages but also highlights the inseparability of queer community formation and queer negation.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |