FROM PINK TO DETOURNEMENT: THE SEMIOTICS OF RADICAL QUEER DESIRES ON INTERNET SPACES

Abstract

This research explores the way queer political groups use symbolic capital in their web presences. It seeks to read semiotically how images deployed in queer Internet spaces can create and reinforce queer identities. This process takes place through the generation of heterodoxic discourses, embedded within the code system, and denotative signifying level of queer symbolisms. These discourses generate moments when radical breaks between the heteronormative power structures and actors are possible. I explore how these semiotics as seen through Bourdieu's theories are in relation with the concept of counterpublics. This body of theory is further refined by the addition of my examination the identity formation processes found in alternative media.