The Origin of Love (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

On complementarity, queer popular culture and spherical creatures

Authors

  • Agnes Stephenson

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30820/0942-2285-2025-1-61

Keywords:

The Origin of Love, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, depth hermeneutics, queer theory, Symposion, spherical creatures

Abstract

The musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch is considered a classic of queer pop culture. The song The Origin of Love illustrates the desperate search of the queer protagonist Hedwig, who, after a failed sex reassignment surgery, is neither male nor female, neither homosexual nor heterosexual, for the other half that can complete the self. It references Plato’s Symposion and offers a retelling of the myth of the spherical human. The character Hansel*Hedwig, who is internally divided due to the failed surgery, represents the division of the spherical humans by the power of the mythological gods, whose action results in the separation of two united halves. The song was analyzed using a depth hermeneutic interpretation. The article focuses on reconstructing this interpretive process with reference to Judith Butler’s queer-feminist theory and the significance of the song for queer pop culture.

Author Biography

Agnes Stephenson

Agnes Stephenson, Magistra, MA, Psychoanalytische Pädagogin und Sonder- und Heilpädagogin, Master Global Citizenship Education, Promovendin am Institut für Erziehungswissenschaft und Bildungsforschung an der AAU Klagenfurt, Universitätsassistentin am Department Psychotherapiewissenschaft der Sigmund Freud PrivatUniversität Linz. Forschungsschwerpunkte: Psychotherapie und Gesellschaft, Psychotherapie und Pädagogik, Global Citizenship, Gender Studies, Qualitative Sozialforschung (Tiefenhermeneutik).
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How to Cite

Stephenson, Agnes. 2025. “The Origin of Love (Hedwig and the Angry Inch): On Complementarity, Queer Popular Culture and Spherical Creatures”. Journal für Psychologie 33 (1):61-79. https://doi.org/10.30820/0942-2285-2025-1-61.

Issue

Vol. 33 No. 1 (2025): Zur Psychologie des modernen Songs

Section

Artikel

License

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