Chapter 22 Postcolonial Biblical Criticism and Queer Studies Jeremy Punt Introduction Recognizing the intercadence between postcolonial and queer studies is ofen easier than fully explaining the reasons for associating the two felds of study or compre- hensively describing the nature, scope, and elements constituting the connections. Part of the challenge in describing the possible connections is the recurrent conten- tiousness in describing either of the two. Te strongest links between postcolonial and queer theory (but not necessarily the simplest to explain) are related to their par- ticular focus on dissent and their take on power. Postcolonial and queer approaches trace those social confgurations of power that have led and continue to lead to the es- tablishment of people as subjugated Others (Spivak) and their perpetual, continuing marginalization. Concerned with the well-being of Others, both approaches invoke theoretical frameworks for understanding but also for circumventing and working to- ward eradicating networks of power that (continue to) subjugate marginalized people. With regard to sex and gender, queer theory destabilizes the self-evidence of power and marginality, center and periphery, and related notions that are central to postcolonial theory. 1 Both postcolonial studies and queer work constitute a move away from iden- tity to subjectivity that implies detachment from biological, national, cultural, or other essentialisms. Tis move marks a critical theoretical departure from previous defnitions of identity and refocuses attention on “the complex, intersecting ways in which people are embedded within multiple, conficted discourses, practices, and institutions” (Oleksy 2009:1). Te nonessentialist, intersectional move avoids the extremes of bland detachment or partisan activism. In the case of biblical studies, postcolonial and queer theorists engage the diferent ways in which Othering takes place in and around biblical OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRSTPROOFS, Wed Jan 18 2023, NEWGEN /12_frst_proofs/frst_proofs/xml_for_typesetting oxfordhb-9780190888459.indd 533 oxfordhb-9780190888459.indd 533 18-Jan-23 19:02:08 18-Jan-23 19:02:08