Queer Utopia, Transfeminism, and Solidarity in Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer Universe

This article explores the central role of queer utopianism and transfeminist coalitional visions in Janelle Monáe’s dirty computer multiplatform universe. In Dirty Computer (album/film 2018), and short story collection The Memory Librarian (2022), Monáe presents a dystopic future where anyone who deviates from the norm in terms of gender, sexuality, or self-expression is considered a dirty computer. Miasol Eguíbar-Holgado’s analysis focuses on the short story “Nevermind.” This article engages with José Esteban Muñoz’s articulation of queer utopianism in order to examine the strategies of resistance performed by the Pynk, a community of women fighting the system. Crucially, the story foregrounds conflicts that may arise from trans-exclusionary attitudes and point to the kind of solidarity work required to envision a more inclusive and just world. Bringing queer utopianism into conversation with transfeminist theories, this article unpacks the moments, gestures, and political stances that contribute to effectively challenge queerphobia and transphobia in the present and in the future

Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Astronomy · Physics · Political science · Politics · Queer · Queer theory · Sociology · Solidarity · Universe · Utopia · Cinema and Media Studies · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy · Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction