‘Homoness’ and Anti-Identitarian Desire: Queer Radicality in Leo Bersani

Abstract

This article explores Leo Bersani’s perspective on homosexual identity. For this purpose, a qualitative content analysis of one of his main productions is carried out: Homos, in which the North American author makes criticisms of the prevailing queer theory in the academic and political field. In the face of the loss of radicality of the critique to which this perspective could lead, Bersani’s contesting tone, together with the postulation of ‘homoness’ as that which cannot be assimilated by discursive frameworks, turns out to be a focus of interest around sexualities capable of being thought under the ontological keys of the new contemporary materialisms. In this direction, the article critically examines the place of those perspectives on sexuality focused exclusively on language. From there, it highlights the singular way in which the author uses psychoanalysis to locate the body and identity beyondlanguage without falling into old essentialisms. Finally, we emphasize an ethical-political aspect of his perspective present in his proposal to build a new community based on a redefinition of the notion of difference. We conclude the importance of returning from this radically critical look to the category of homoness, given that there desire, fantasy and sexuality can find a place in a new way of conceiving a politics from the bodies and, at the same time, renew the onto-epistemological frameworks with which we often approach these issues.