Becoming Max, Athena, and Kristin: Transnormative Nationalism in Dark Angel, Battlestar Galactica, and the Chelsea Manning Controversy

Abstract

Abstract In Terrorist Assemblages, Jasbir Puar introduces the concept of homonationalism as an analytic for a sociohistorical moment of seeming contradictions in gay politics. Since the book's first edition in 2007, several scholars have theorized the relation between homonationalism and transgender politics by examining nonfictional texts from 2007 onward. That scholarship most often explores the controversy surrounding US transparency activist Chelsea Manning's 2010 leaks of government information and subsequent “coming out” as transgender. However, interactions among homonationalism, transgender politics, and fictional texts remain undertheorized. Analyzing those interactions with a focus on American exceptionalism and science fiction television, this article shows that transnormative nationalism began territorializing through transtextuality as early as 2000. This argument not only contributes a more comprehensive explanation of the relation between homonationalism and transgender politics but also reveals the role of science fiction television in connecting the two. The argument's supporting evidence comprises a science fiction television figure termed the post-post-gender cyborg woman. This figure is incarnated in Max, a transgenic woman in Dark Angel (Fox, 2000–2002), and Sharon, a female humanoid Cylon (or robot) in Battlestar Galactica (Sky1 and Sci Fi Channel, 2004–2009). The method is a multiperspectival cultural studies approach, which holistically interprets a text's cultural meanings through analyzing not only the text but also its transtextually related texts, production, and reception. The data include television episodes, webisodes, DVD special features, tie-in novels, published interviews, professional criticism, fan fiction, and fan video. The analysis concludes with how transnormative nationalism reterritorialized in the Manning controversy.