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Indigenous relations are often described in anthropological terms, or as expressions of timeless, unchanging kinship ties. In Speculative Relations, Joseph M. Pierce challenges this view, considering the potential of these relations as a means of repairing the damages of history. Pierce approaches Indigenous art and culture not as objects of study, but through relations committed to reciprocity and care for human and more-than-human beings. Drawing on Cherokee thinking, Indigenous queer theory, literary and cultural studies, and art criticism, he illuminates pathways for understanding and resisting the ongoing damages of colonialism while pointing to future worlds and imaginaries that breathe life into Indigenous thought and practice. Analyzing a range of materials—from photography, literature, and sculpture to film and ethnography—Pierce reveals how speculation, as a form of situated knowledge production, can repair and reimagine the worlds that colonialism sought to destroy. In doing so, Pierce highlights how gestures, poetics, and embodiment can uphold tradition and harness the imaginative power of speculation to create pathways for living in good relations.
Price: $34.00
Pages: 296
Publisher: Duke University Press
Imprint: Duke University Press
Publication Date:
26 August 2025
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9781478032151
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
“Deftly navigating a staggering array of creative works, critical currents, and cultural contexts, Cherokee Nation scholar Joseph M. Pierce considers questions of relations, kinship, and how Indigenous artists and visionaries can help us realize life-giving worlds in the death throes of the current imperial order. With personal and poetic imaginings and incisive readings of Indigenous art and scholarship, Speculative Relations is a generative revelation and an urgent, provocative, and generous scholarly contribution. It exemplifies why Pierce is one of the most compelling and dexterous thinkers working at the intersection of Indigenous, queer, and cultural studies today.”—Daniel Heath Justice (Cherokee Nation), author of, Why Indigenous Literatures Matter
“Joseph M. Pierce’s fierce, beautiful, embodied, and queer approach to Indigenous relationship and kinship is provocative and innovative. He makes a substantial contribution to queer Indigenous studies and to conversations about what Indigenous relationalities mean as alternative worldings. Speculative Relations will be essential for so many of us who are looking for the language, methodologies, and frameworks to do relational work in Indigenous studies.”—Jodi A. Byrd (Chickasaw Nation), author of, Indigenomicon: American Indians, Video Games, and the Structures of Dispossession
"The book brings together personal narrative, poetic reflections, and analyses of Indigenous resistance and Indigenous affirmation in visual media and poetry, constellating these different forms of writing into a multifaceted and dynamic mapping of relational possibilities."—Jenna Hanchey, Ancillary Review of Books
“Joseph M. Pierce’s fierce, beautiful, embodied, and queer approach to Indigenous relationship and kinship is provocative and innovative. He makes a substantial contribution to queer Indigenous studies and to conversations about what Indigenous relationalities mean as alternative worldings. Speculative Relations will be essential for so many of us who are looking for the language, methodologies, and frameworks to do relational work in Indigenous studies.”—Jodi A. Byrd (Chickasaw Nation), author of, Indigenomicon: American Indians, Video Games, and the Structures of Dispossession
"The book brings together personal narrative, poetic reflections, and analyses of Indigenous resistance and Indigenous affirmation in visual media and poetry, constellating these different forms of writing into a multifaceted and dynamic mapping of relational possibilities."—Jenna Hanchey, Ancillary Review of Books
Joseph M. Pierce (Cherokee Nation) is Associate Professor in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature at Stony Brook University and author of Argentine Intimacies: Queer Kinship in an Age of Splendor, 1890–1910.
Preface: A Story of Relation ix
Introduction: Speculation, Relations, Worlding, and Repair 1
1.Relate 25
Interlude 1. Remember 41
2. Gesture 48
Interlude 2. Speculate 85
3. Become 87
Interlude 3. Star 123
4. Body 126
Interlude 4. Rock 181
5. Love 185
Conclusion 212
Epilogue: If/Then Statements 218
Acknowledgments 221
Notes 225
Bibliography 249
Index 263
Introduction: Speculation, Relations, Worlding, and Repair 1
1.Relate 25
Interlude 1. Remember 41
2. Gesture 48
Interlude 2. Speculate 85
3. Become 87
Interlude 3. Star 123
4. Body 126
Interlude 4. Rock 181
5. Love 185
Conclusion 212
Epilogue: If/Then Statements 218
Acknowledgments 221
Notes 225
Bibliography 249
Index 263