Imperial Physique
Publisher: punctum books
Published: 2019
Place of publication: Brooklyn, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 158
ISBN-13: 9781950192533; 9781950192540
Subjects: Gay studies (Gay men); Of specific Gay interest
Description: "In 2008,  JH Phrydas wrote a story about how bodies talk without words. He wanted the story to not just describe the silent ritual of nonverbal communication but to perform it. The interaction would be visceral ? the exchange melancholic, yet full of lust. He wanted words to retain the unsayable: the subtle movements of a body in heat. In the years since, Phrydas kept rewriting this story, using different techniques, different syntaxes and forms, in hopes that he would find a successful method of gestural writing.

Imperial Physique is a collection of these attempts. They explore the way our bodies hover between animal and human, civil and wild. The bleakness ? and underlying verve ? of imagining Western empires in decline serve as a backdrop for a lone figure searching city streets, decaying architecture, and sand dunes for some type of physical connection. What arises is the loss of ? and longing for ? touch at the edges of imperialism, historical violence, and personal shame."

Notes: English.