"The way you wave your hat": performativity and self-invention in Jackie Kay's "Trumpet" and Duncan Tucker's "Transamerica"

“The way you wea you ha ”: Pe o ma i i y and sel -in en ion in Jackie Kay’s T umpe and Duncan Tucke ’s T ansame ica Ca olina Sánchez-Palencia Ca azo Uni e sidad de Se illa Jackie Kay’s T umpe and Duncan Tucke ’s T ansame ica make explici use o ansgende subjec s o deal wi h he in ica e and hyb id na u e o iden i y. Func ioning as des abilizing agen s, hese cha ac e s disman le hei su ounding uni e se whe e amily choices and social iden i ica ions can be no longe ixed and p ede e mined. Likewise, as pa adigma ic quee ex s, bo h s o ies ansg ess con en ional ca ego ies and pa adoxically, hei epis emological collapse u ns in o a powe ul sou ce o meaning, inasmuch as hose ca ego ies –sex, gende , na ionali y, ace, amily, genealogy-- ha so s ongly de e mine he subjec ’s iden i y and his/he sense o belonging a e e en ually con on ed wi h hei own con ingency and hei openness o new meanings. Th ough he explo a ion o o e hemes as adop ion, jazz, nomadism and anssexuali y –which wo k also as powe ul me apho s o he luidi y and p eca iousness o he Sel -- hese au ho s align hemsel es wi h he pe o ma i i y pa adigm o Judi h Bu le ’s and o he quee heo is s in hei assump ion ha iden i y –mo e an imagina y cons uc ion o desi e and an asy han an essen ial o empi ical gi en-- mus be in en ed and ein en ed. In his con ex , he ansgende subjec becomes he epi ome o ins abili y and diaspo ic meaning, and like a so o “s ange a ac o ” gene a es a scena io o ambigui y which in i es al e na i e ways o coping wi h subjec i i y and i s social pe cep ion. T umpe , Jackie Kay’s i s no el is loosely inspi ed in he ue s o y o he Ame ican Jazz musician Billy Tip on who li ed and wo ked as a man du ing he 40’s and 50’s and, upon his dea h, was disco e ed o be a woman, causing a emendous shock among his child en, ex-wi es, band-ma es, iends and audience. Kay mo es his episode o con empo a y B i ain and makes i in e sec wi h ques ions o ace and na ionali y hus c ea ing a ic ional mosaic o non-essen ial iden i ies ha became so success ul in he so-called “quee 90’s” ha i was awa ded wi h he 1998 Gua dian Fic ion P ize. He no el s a s wi h he dea h o Joss Moody, a Sco s black jazz umpe e , and a icula es he di e en eac ions o he doc o ’s and egis a ’s e ela ion, a e hei ou ine inspec ion o he co pse, ha he is (o a he was) a woman. Then he na a i e un olds polyphonically in o he h ee majo es imonies cons i u ing he cen al melody o he s o y: hose o Millie, his widow; Colman, his adop ed son, and Sophie, a abloid jou nalis eage o publish a sensa ionalis biog aphy o Joss (bo n Josephine). Apa om hese majo con ibu ions, he na a i e includes he oices o o he people, some o hem only angen ially ela ed o he deceased: like he une al di ec o , he egis a , he doc o , a d umme , he cleane , and a school iend. Like in a jazz pe o mance, whe e sc ip s a e displaced by imp o isa ion, he pos humous s o y o his c oss-d esse is o ganized a ound di e en combina ions, 2 addi ions, and e sions o a “ u h” ha in he end emains elusi e, and almos i ele an . Since his is a pos -mo em accoun we ne e hea Joss’s own oice and we ge o know him only h ough o he s’ oblique e sions o him, he esul being a plu al, agmen a y and jazz-like composi ion. Jackie Kay has decla ed in se e al in e iews how deeply jazz and blues hy hms ha e gone in o he w i ing (Se e in 2002; Gish 2004); and one can indeed ace ha music in T umpe : h ough i s lexible s yle, i s hyb id quali y and i s imp o ised a ia ions in he guise o o e lapping oices and es imonies. As Louis A ms ong said, "Jazz is music ha 's ne e played he same way once", which gi es au ho s and pe o me s occasions o endless ein en ion. Tha is why, when playing his umpe , Joss “looked eal and un eal like a an asy o himsel . All jazz men a e an asies o hemsel es, ein en ing he Coun s and Dukes and A ms ongs, imi a ing hem” (190). Jazz, hen, is a heme in he no el bu also a me apho o he ins abili y and p eca iousness o iden i y, inasmuch as i o e s a libe a ing space o in-de ini ion whe e Joss can s ip o any no ma i e ca ego ies: When he ge s down, and he doesn’ always ge down deep enough, he looses his sex, his ace, his memo y. He s ips himsel ba e, akes e e y hing o , ill he’s ba ely human...All his sel collapses –his idiosync asies, his pe sonali y, his ego, his sexuali y, e en, inally, his memo y. All o i alls away like laye s o skin unw apping. He unw aps himsel wi h his umpe , down a he bo om, ace o ace wi h he ac ha he is nobody. (131) When playing his umpe he seems o ha e a i ed a “ he unbea able ligh ness o being”, ha in which he sel ( he phan asma ic sel ) explodes in o million sel es disman ling any no ion o a uni a y iden i y and eme ging ins ead only as simulac a: “Sco land. A ica. Sla e y. F eedom. He is a gi l. A man. E e y hing, no hing. He is sickness, heal h. The sun, he moon. Black, whi e. No hing weighs him down.”(136) The allusion o he unw apping o he sel e okes ha ouching ecu en image o he un a elling o he bandages w apped a ound Joss’s ches ha he had o change e e y day o his adul li e wi h he silen complici y o his wi e Millie. I has he solemni y o a i ual, he sensuali y o a s ip- ease ha , a om being obscene, esembles he eade ’s ac o un a elling he /his s o y. A s o y whe e he echoes o quee heo y esona e h ough he delinea ion o his de-iden i ied, de-speci ied subjec inhabi ing a so o no-man/no-woman’s land. 3 I “being nobody” is he bes exp ession o a quee and non-essen ialis pos mode n sel , “being someone else” (a ecu en mo i in he s o y and in some o Kay’s poems) is also indica i e o he p o ean and con ingen na u e o iden i y. As Joss ema ks in his will, e e yone bea s a alse name o would ha e liked o be someone else (276). I is no only his own case, ha o a woman passing as a man; ac ually mos cha ac e s in he no el unde go a simila p ocess o impe sona ion, which sugges s ha pe haps i migh no be such an abe an ac , bu some hing inhe en o ou e sa ile human condi ion. Thus, o ins ance, Millie, in he mou ning, wishes she we e a gi l again and, in a passage ull o Lacanian o e ones, ha dly ecognizes he own e lec ion in he mi o ; Edi h, Joss’s elde ly mo he , complains ha he daugh e has no isi ed he o a long ime and ea s ha , as a consequence, she migh loose he own iden i y, he one ha is gi en o us by ou “signi ican o he s”: “Nobody knows he like Josephine knew he . And i nobody knows you, how can you be you sel ? Edi h could be somebody di e en e e y day and mos p obably nobody would no ice” (221); o Colman’s gi l iend, who is called Melanie a e a dead sis e , “al hough i wasn’ nowhe e on he bi h ce i ica e” (117); and mos impo an , Colman himsel , whose adop ed condi ion (like ha o Kay’s he sel ) o ces him in o an endless imagina y c oss-cas ing: “[Y]ou could ha e been b ough up in ano he pa o he wo ld, wi h ich pa en s, poo pa en s, Mo mons, communis s, ascis s, banke s, Ca holics, Me hodis s, zoo-keepe s, se ial kille s. You could ha e gone s aigh o a cold o phanage” (46). As Colman sugges s, he adop ees’s iden i y is necessa ily luid as hei pas is cons an ly ein en ed and hei bi h pa en s always an asized. Adop ion, like jazz, is a cen al heme in Kay’s no el, bu also a me apho o he mul iplici y and ins abili y o he sel , and has been deeply explo ed in he amous h ee- oice poem The Adop ion Pape s, which a icula es in a e y unsen imen al he o ic he expe iences o he adop ed daugh e , he adop i e mo he and he bi h mo he . I do no qui e ag ee wi h Kay ha he e a en’ many adop ed people in li e a u e, only in soap ope as (Gish 172). The e is a long adi ion o adop ion in English li e a u e. O phans, adop ees, os e pa en s and misplaced child en a e commonplace in Vic o ian no el and melod ama, a li e a y and his o ical con ex which ied o s ess he ole nu u e ( e sus na u e) plays in shaping indi idual iden i y. These na a i es a e s ongly in lec ed by class and he edi y, as adop ion always implies 4 social, mo al and economic mobili y o he adop ees. Geo ge Elio ’s Silas Ma ne and Daniel De onda cons i u e well-known examples o his adi ion. Ye , Kay makes majo depa u es om ha canon as he s o y e ol es no a ound he con en ional e ela ion and eco e y o biological o igins, bu a ound he accep ance o he Fa he (male o emale) he son empo a ily denies o “kills” a e eeling he has been be ayed by a “ ake” a he , who is also a “ ake man”. Thus wha makes he app oach a esh one is he way she add esses issues o a he hood and masculini y wi hin he adop ion plo . So i , in he pa ilineal economy, he a he is supposed o p o ide he son wi h a social name and place and o ans e him his malehood legacy, he e we obse e a double sub e sion o his “uni e sally acknowledged u h”, because i is no only ha Joss is no Colman’s “ eal” (biological) a he , bu he is no e en a “man”. Colman’s b u al and obscene language e lec s hese masculinis anxie ies c ea ed by his a he ’s espassing gende bounda ies and his h ea ening male hegemonic iden i y. His homophobic eac ion e eals a deep ea o cas a ion a e his a he ’s example, as when he says “My a he didn’ ha e a p ick” (66). And he is igh , “his a he didn’ ha e a p ick”, bu he did ha e a umpe , which s ands as a subs i u e o he pa e nal phallus, a powe ul signi ie o alen , p es ige, p i ilege and public ecogni ion. As any eade can pe cei e in Colman’s childhood ecollec ions, his e ishis ic ela ion wi h “ his objec o desi e” (and he e o ic conno a ions in i s desc ip ion should no go unno iced) mo i a es an oedipal i al y wi h his mo he : I goes in my a he ’s bed oom. I am six yea s old. I opens hei wa d obe. My daddy keeps his umpe in he e. I opens he big sil e box, and he e i is, all shiny inside. I ouched i ...Then I s okes i like I’ e seen my a he do and i pu s. I uns my inge s o e he keys hen along he u , a he pu ple u in he box...Then my mom inded me. I can’ make any hing up. She says, Colman, wha a e you doing? Ge ou o you a he ’s umpe . So I close he sil e lid and push i back in o he wa d obe. Daddy mus ha e o go en o ake his umpe , I says. I hope i doesn’ make him bad luck, I says. (49) Le me no ice ha , in he con ex o Colman’s con lic wi h Joss’s emascula ion (i.e., wi h “his no ha ing a p ick”), he son’s in a ua ion wi h his a he ’s “ins umen ”, becomes qui e i onic. Ano he di e ence wi h adi ional app oaches o adop ion lies in he ac ha Kay in oduces ace issues in he a emp a na u alizing B i ish blackness. She succeeds 5 in placing he no el in he con ex o he 70’s and 80’s deba e o e ans acial adop ion, when placemen o black child en in whi e homes was conside ed by many as “unna u al”, “a i icial” and con a y o he wel a e o child en who would eel uncom o able g owing in a disapp o ing su ounding communi y. Con as ingly, in choosing a mix-up amily (wi h in e acial ma iage and adop ion) Kay hin s ha acial ma ching ends up ein o cing acialism and he dogma ic belie ha colou de e mines des iny. In his sense, Colman’s unease abou his being imposed a no ma i e black iden i y becomes e y signi ican : “Doesn’ eel com o able wi h ma es o his ha go on and on abou A ica. I eels alse o him, ma es ha ge d essed up in A ican gea , wank on abou being A ican wi h a ucking cockney accen , man. Back o A ica is jus un eal as a as Colman is conce ned. He’s ne e been o A ica, so how can he go back?” (191). A eeling o aliena ion ha could be compensa ed by Joss’s “Fan asy A ica” ( he i le o his i s g ea hi ), a s ongly emo ional ec ea ion o a u opian na ion. 1 Complica ed by bo h issues o gende and ace, Kay’s ideas abou adop ion in i e a econcep ualiza ion o he Ca esian sel . In su passing he logic o he biological and an Enligh enmen belie in iden i y as con e ed by blood and genealogy, she sugges s al e na i e models o kinship, and, as Joss explains o his son, he possibili y o c ea e one’s own ances y (e hnic, na ional and/o gene ic): “My a he always old me he and I we e ela ed he way i ma e ed. He el ha way oo abou he guys in his bands, ha hey we e all pa o some big amily. Some o hem we e whi e, some black. He said hey didn’ belong anywhe e bu o each o he . He said you make up you own bloodline, Colman. Make i up and ace i back. Design you own amily ee.” (58) I is in his ligh ha we could unde s and Joss’s inal le e whe e he e eals his son nei he he “name o he a he ”, which would ha e p o ided he o hodox closu e o he na a i e o masculini y, no he mo i es o his sexual passing (which would ha e aced Colman back o an u opian “o igin” oo). This uncon en ional es amen (“Las Wo d”) e ol es ins ead a ound a s o y ( he s o y o Joss’s own a he ) o des abiliza ion, ans o ma ion, “quee ” lack o o igins and diaspo ic meaning: “E en he name he was gi en, John Moo e, was no his o iginal name” (276); “his s o y could be he s o y o any black man who came om A ica o Sco land” (271) In he end, he 1 A no ion equi alen o Salman Rushdie’s “Imagina y Homelands” o “Indias o he Mind” and many o he pos colonial igu a ions o home and place as con adic o y expe iences o he mig an subjec . 6 only explana ion is ha hey a e all pa o he s o y o diaspo a: “Tha ’s he hing wi h us: we keep changing names. We’ e all go ha in common. We’ e all changed names, you, me and my a he . All o di e en easons. May be one day you’ll unde s and mine.”(276) In he absence o a blood lineage Joss appeals o ha o he kind o ances y and a ini y, and o he igh o e-in en ou sel es ou o an equally in en ed pas . Al hough he lea es Colman he documen a y e idence abou his own pas (le e s, pho os, ce i ica es), his ac ual ma e ial is displaced by he nos algia o emo ional memo y whe e e e y hing, names, da es, o igin is dissol ed in he Sco ish og, adding u he con usion and ambigui y o a s o y ha delibe a ely a oids a ixed e sion o u h. Simila ly, he cold ac ici y o he doc o ’s and egis a ’s epo s and he scandalous s o y designed by he jou nalis seem o be obscu ed by he luidi y and inde e minacy o he p e ailing sen imen al es imonies. Thus, o ins ance, Millie lo ed him as a husband, and his wi ely a i udes ein o ced Joss’s sel -in en ed masculini y; Colman, a e coming o e ms wi h his oedipal con lic , will end up accep ing ha “he’ll always be a daddy o [him]” (259); and e en Edi h, he only one who lo ed he (he Josephine) as a woman, con esses she misses he daugh e . The choice o he pe o ma i i y pa adigm aligns Kay wi h Judi h Bu le ’s well- known heo ies, whe e iden i y is only he e ec o he subjec ’s social ep esen a ions ha cons i u e him/he h ough he e y ac o hei epe i ion (1993a: 311-13) The lines ha she selec ed as he p e ace o T umpe an icipa e his speci ic iew o gende (and by ex ension o any iden i y) as a se o lea ned oles: “The way you wa e you ha /The way you sip you ea/ The memo y o all ha /No, no! They can’ ake ha away om me!” (Geo ge Ge shwin). This cons uc i is pe spec i e in i es a b ie compa a i e analysis wi h Duncan Tucke ’s ilm T ansame ica (2005), ano he s o y o ansgende a he hood, o he ness, and ul ima ely accep ance. This independen oad-mo ie na a es he ad en u es and misad en u es o B ee (bo n S anley) a p e-ope a i e male- o- emale anssexual who disco e s she has a ebellious eenage son wi h whom she has o come o e ms be o e he sexual e-assignmen su ge y. He e he play wi h gende achie es a ou -de- o ce quali y, as he ilm ea u es a woman (Felici y Hu man) ac ing as a man ying o become a woman. Thus, he mo ie s a s wi h he p o agonis ying o ind he igh speaking pi ch, as one o he many challenges aced by a p e-op ans es i e, because, like Joss Moody, B ee has o lea n how o build gende cues, bo h physical –in he body, hai , clo hing, oice o mo emen —and beha iou al –conce ning he manne s, 7 language, deco um o p o ocol, he esul being an awkwa d mix o male/ emale manne isms. Ye , in T ansame ica, i is no only gende ha becomes e sa ile, bu abo e all, sex, which is hus p esen ed as likely o be decons uc ed and econs uc ed. In Bodies ha Ma e (1993) Judi h Bu le adicalizes he inqui ies she began in Gende T ouble (1990) o e ing a e igu a ion o he ma e iali y o bodies and o he powe o he e osexual no ma i i y o cons i u e he 'ma e ' o bodies, sex and gende . In his ligh , anssexuali y, as i is depic ed in Tucke ’s ilm, dena u alizes he biological sexed body and ede ines i s ma e iali y in e ms o he cul u al and social con ou s delimi ing i . Thus, B ee decla es ha he body is a “wo k-in-p og ess” and in a memo able con e sa ion wi h he /his menopausic mo he , hey will ha e o accep ha eminini y is, o a g ea ex en , p os he ic, as o bo h o hem i is a ma e o ho mone supply: B ee Osbou ne: God, my cycle's all ou o whack. Elizabe h Osbou ne: You don' ha e cycles! B ee Osbou ne: Ho mones a e ho mones. You s and mine jus happen o come in pu ple li le pills. Fo many, sexual e-assignmen su ge y would end up ein o cing a so o body ascism, and o a g ea ex en , ha would be he case o B ee, o whom ana omy can de e mine who she is, o a leas how o he s see he , which amoun s o much he same hing i you a e inclined o wan app o al o eel desi ed o e en jus o ge a li e o you own. Bu his is only pa ially ue in a s o y ha a oids g appling wi h he in e ela ions o gende and sex and p oposes ins ead an in es men in a i ice, ha is, in all he pe o ma i e ges u es ha cons i u e subjec i i y and i s social pe cep ion. As i is he case wi h mos anssexuals in hei sea ch o a new iden i y, B ee ies o de ise o he sel no only a u u e bu also a pas , because, as Ka e Bo s ein a gues, “ anssexuali y is he only condi ion in Wes e n cul u e o which he he apy is o lie”. 2 The p o agonis has spen he en i e li e coping wi h gende dyspho ia and inally, when she is abou o ge id o he one hing ha p e en s he om being a eal woman, she inds ha , much as she wan s o pu ha old sel behind he , he pas canno be en i ely swep o . He he apis Ma ga e ad ises ha B ee should come o e ms wi h who she was when she was S anley, and ha includes he son she a he ed ou o 2 Ka e Bo ns ein is a d ag pe o me (a “T ansgende T ansexual Pos mode n Ti esias”) and gende educa o who led one o he i s C oss-Gende Wo kshops aimed a decons uc ing gende . She is also he au ho and pe o me in whose wo ks she p esen s a ypology o di e ence and ambigui y occupied by ansgende is s, ans es i es, anssexuals, c oss-d esse s and all hose gende ou laws in-be ween one hing and he o he . 8 he only sexual expe ience as a man 17 yea s ago: "This is a pa o you body ha canno be disca ded." I seems ha o he being a a he is he i onic p e- equisi e o become a woman. Tobby igno es ha his conse a i e-looking lady and Ch is ian missiona y o he “Chu ch o he Po en ial Fa he ” is in ac his spe m dono , and his igno ance is he s o y’s main sou ce o humou . Ha ing g own up as an o phan –and ha ing hus expe ienced he p eca ious s a us o bas a ds who lack he ilia ion o social name con e ed by he Fa he -- he ep oduces he con lic ha F eud de ined as pa o he “Family Romance”, ha is, he son’s unconscious need o idealize his a he in o de o pa ake o his omnipo ence (74-78). Hence, in a compensa o y s a egy, Tobby ends o belie e his a he is an Ame ican Indian and he owne o a big house, and he dis ance be ween he Real and he Imagined a he is i onically enla ged when he disco e s ha he is only “hal -Jewish” and “hal -man”. His agg essi e eac ion esembles ha o Colman Moody’s a e he c ucial e ela ion o his a he ’s iden i y, bu he e i is agg a a ed by he us a ing ealiza ion ha he a he igu e (agg andized wi hin he son’s imagina ion) is only an unglamo ous masque ade wi h whom Tobby canno iden i y no de i e he necessa y nou ishmen and epa a ion. As i in an i onic wis o he F eudian model he e u n o he homeland –“nos algia” is one o he meanings o he my hic jou ney ac oss Ame ica he emba k upon—does no imply he e a desi e o e u n o he body o he mo he (sempe ce issima), bu he encoun e wi h he a he (sempe ince us) inca na ed in an ins able, e emina e and agmen ed sel . Tobby has no home –no mo he because she is dead— o e u n o, “wha places him always and ine i ably ab oad, in a o eign coun y”; nei he has he go a a he wi h whom o es ablish a phallic (a ) ilia ion. B ee’s “ anishing male body” –a body in ansi ion, a phan asma ic body—e okes he Lacanian no ions o desi e inasmuch as i s ands as he “objec o desi e” ha is li e ally i e ie able and inde inable (Gallop148). This nos algic a emp a u ning o a pas mo e au hen ic (and pala able) han he p esen also a ec s B ee’s mo he who, epelled by he son’s choice o become a woman, ies o idealize and e-in en he child by accommoda ing him o he e osexual no ma i i y, as when she begs “Don' do his aw ul hing o you sel , please. I miss my son”, and B ee answe s: “Mom, you ne e had a son.” As in T umpe , cha ac e s in T ansame ica will ha e o assume al e na i es o no ma i e pa en hood as he ansgende subjec becomes he des abilizing agen ha disman les i s su ounding uni e se whe e amily choices and iden i ica ions can be no 9 longe ixed and p ede e mined. Likewise, i could be a gued ha quee ex s ansg ess con en ional ca ego ies (no only gende bina ies), bu , pa adoxically, hei epis emological collapse is a powe ul sou ce o meaning, inasmuch as hose ca ego ies –sex, na ionali y, ace, amily, genealogy-- ha so s ongly de e mine he subjec ’s iden i y and his/he sense o belonging a e e en ually con on ed wi h hei own con ingency and hei openness o new meanings. Wo ks ci ed Abelo e, Hen y, Michèle A. Ba ale and Da id Halpe in, eds. 1993. The Gay and Lesbian S udies Reade . London: Rou ledge. Alde son, Da id, and Linda Ande son. 2001. Te i o ies o Desi e in Quee Cul u e : Re igu ing he Con empo a y Bounda ies. Manches e : Manches e U P. Ande son, Linda. 2001. “Au obiog aphical a es ies: he nos algic sel in quee w i ing”. Alde son & Ande son, eds.: 68-81. Bo ns ein, Ka e. 1994. Gende Ou law: On Men, Women, and he Res o Us. New Yo k: Rou ledge ---. 1998. My Gende Wo kbook : How o Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, he Real You, o Some hing Else En i ely. New Yo k: Rou ledge. Bu le , Judi h. 1990. Gende T ouble: Feminism and he Sub e sion o Iden i y. London: Rou ledge,. ---. 1993a. “Imi a ion and Gende Insubo dina ion”. Abelo e: 307-20. ---. 1993b. Bodies Tha Ma e : On he Discou si e Limi s o Sex. New Yo k: Rou ledge. F eud, Sigmund. 1959. Collec ed Pape s 5, ed. James S achey. New Yo k: Basic Books: 74-78. Gallop, Jane. 1985. Reading Lacan. I haca & London: Co nell U P: 148. Gish, Nancy. 2004. “Adop ion, Iden i y and Voice: Jackie Kay’s In en ions o Sel .” No y, ed.: 171-192. Kay, Jackie. 1991. The Adop ion Pape s. Newcas le upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books. ---. 1998. T umpe . London: Picado . King, Jeane e. 2001 “‘A Woman’s a Man o A’ Tha ’: Jackie Kay’s T umpe ”. Sco ish S udies Re iew 2:1. Sp ing 2001: 101-108.