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“A must-read for anyone interested in the history of drag performance.”—Publishers Weekly
A rich and provocative history of drag's importance in modern British culture.
Despite its transgressive associations, drag has persisted as an intrinsic, and common, part of British popular culture—drag artists have consistently asserted themselves as some of the most renowned and significant entertainers of their day. As Bloomfield demonstrates, drag was also at the center of public discussions around gender and sexuality in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Victorian sex scandals to the "permissive society" of the 1960s. This compelling new history demythologizes drag, stressing its ordinariness while affirming its important place in British cultural heritage.
Price: $24.95
Pages: 272
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Series: Berkeley Series in British Studies
Publication Date:
08 October 2024
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520409651
Format: Paperback
"An excellent examination of the complexities of various forms of stage drag and its mainstay role in British popular culture."
"A new look at the history of drag. . . . Bloomfield illustrates how drag has long been a complex yet ‘ordinary’ artform, historically straddling queer radicalism and mass entertainment along the way."
"A thoughtful and fascinating read."
"A fascinating overview of the story of British drag artists."
"An excellent primer to the complexities of drag as ‘a queer art form’ and so much else besides."
"Dr. Jacob Bloomfield is the uncontested expert when it comes to the history of drag in this country."
"A rich and fascinating account about female impersonation that will greatly add to contemporary, often ahistorical, understandings of drag."
"A fascinating and richly illustrated history."
"Bloomfield’s interventions are welcome. His measured analysis prompt us to reconsider how we understand 'gender variance,' especially in the interwar period. Anxiety may have been prevalent. . . but we shouldn’t assume that this anxiety was totalizing. Not all gender play was necessarily troublesome. In fact, as Bloomfield repeatedly stresses, drag could be downright ordinary."
"Drag: A British History celebrates the significance of popular performance and has the potential to stimulate research from new generations who too have overlooked, or not been aware of the artform’s rich history."
“Drag: A British History illuminates how drag performance has endured as a central and cherished part of British popular culture. . . . Drag aficionados will learn about new archival discoveries and might be surprised by the popularity, boldness, and ingenuity of drag well over a century before RuPaul’s Drag Race. Newcomers will get a brisk survey of significant people, places, and events in British drag history.”
"A new look at the history of drag. . . . Bloomfield illustrates how drag has long been a complex yet ‘ordinary’ artform, historically straddling queer radicalism and mass entertainment along the way."
"A thoughtful and fascinating read."
"A fascinating overview of the story of British drag artists."
"An excellent primer to the complexities of drag as ‘a queer art form’ and so much else besides."
"Dr. Jacob Bloomfield is the uncontested expert when it comes to the history of drag in this country."
"A rich and fascinating account about female impersonation that will greatly add to contemporary, often ahistorical, understandings of drag."
"A fascinating and richly illustrated history."
"An eloquent model of how to map the meeting points between theatre and social history."
"Bloomfield’s interventions are welcome. His measured analysis prompt us to reconsider how we understand 'gender variance,' especially in the interwar period. Anxiety may have been prevalent. . . but we shouldn’t assume that this anxiety was totalizing. Not all gender play was necessarily troublesome. In fact, as Bloomfield repeatedly stresses, drag could be downright ordinary."
"Drag: A British History celebrates the significance of popular performance and has the potential to stimulate research from new generations who too have overlooked, or not been aware of the artform’s rich history."
“Drag: A British History illuminates how drag performance has endured as a central and cherished part of British popular culture. . . . Drag aficionados will learn about new archival discoveries and might be surprised by the popularity, boldness, and ingenuity of drag well over a century before RuPaul’s Drag Race. Newcomers will get a brisk survey of significant people, places, and events in British drag history.”
“This judicious and often illuminating book . . . wants its readers to appreciate that the history of female impersonation does not always lead in the direction of disruption.”
Jacob Bloomfield is Zukunftskolleg Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Konstanz and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent. His research is situated primarily in the fields of cultural history, the history of sexuality, and gender history. He is currently working on a book about the historical reception to musician Little Richard in the United States and Europe.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Old Mother Riley and the Modern Dame
2 Splinters: Cross-Dressing Ex-Servicemen on the Interwar Stage
3 Danny La Rue: Conservative Drag in the “Permissive Society”
4 Skirting the Censor: Drag and the Censorship of the British Theater, 1939–1968
Epilogue: How Queer Is Drag?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Old Mother Riley and the Modern Dame
2 Splinters: Cross-Dressing Ex-Servicemen on the Interwar Stage
3 Danny La Rue: Conservative Drag in the “Permissive Society”
4 Skirting the Censor: Drag and the Censorship of the British Theater, 1939–1968
Epilogue: How Queer Is Drag?
Notes
Bibliography
Index