School of the Arts professor Deborah Paredez asks what it truly means to be a diva in an event celebrating her new book.

This past Thursday, September 26 the School of the Arts hosted an event at the Lenfest Center for the Arts. The event highlighted Professor Deborah Paredez’s latest book, American Diva: Extraordinary, Unruly, Fabulous. This work pays homage to the enigmatic and mesmerizing figure of the diva through its unique blend of memoir-style narration and astute cultural criticism.

The event kicked off with an introduction by Sarah Cole, the Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts. Following this, Paredez captivated the audience as she read a short excerpt from her book. The author chose to read an interesting, almost unruly, passage where she describes her young teenage self standing in the middle of a friend’s basement during a late night out. There, she came across the 1972 John Waters film Pink Flamingos playing on the TV. Paredez’s words described how her younger self felt a tinge of repulsion and fascination as she saw the film’s protagonist, the notable and notorious drag queen, Divine, rebelliously (and, yes, purposefully) eat dog excrement. 

Through Paredez’s narration, the repulsive nature of this act does not detract from the image of the diva, it becomes her. Paredez’s poetic, dream-like narration transports her readers from that feverish basement scene into her best friend’s delivery room. Here, she is reminded of Divine and her excrement-eating rebellion. Once again, Paredez stands in the middle of the room, witnessing the messy blood and excrement that comes with life. She tells us how the abjectness of the diva, just like the life-giving mother, is part of its life force.

My experience listening to Paredez’s reading mirrored her own experience witnessing Divine eating excrement. My initial repulsion at Divine’s actions and Paredez’s enthusiastic retelling of them transformed into feelings of intrigue and fascination. It was this excerpt that first made me understand, and maybe even feel, the mystical power of the diva that Paredez had been referring to. The diva might be weird, loud, unruly, or even a little disgusting, but you can’t help but be drawn to her.  

Following her compelling reading, Paredez was joined by fellow professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Margo Jefferson (JRN ’71) for an in-depth discussion of her book. Paredez spoke of the word “diva” as a loaded term that was (and continues to be) reclaimed by the divas in her book. Paredez spoke of cultural icons like Celia Cruz, Aretha Franklin, Serena Williams, Jomama Jones, Tina Turner, and Rita Moreno, among many others, who inform the narrative arc of her memoir. For the author, these women’s daring voices, personalities, trajectories, bodies, and dance moves are celebrations of the freedom to be unruly and unapologetic: to dare to take up space.

But for Paredez, the diva isn’t just defined by her fabulous presence. The author recognizes her precarity as a predominantly black, brown, and queer figure. The diva is born out of survival because the very irreverence that defines the diva is a coping mechanism for the daily horrors of her life. As Paredez put it, “the diva carries risk,” because the diva is subversive, vilified, and unwanted, but most of all, the diva refuses to assimilate into her oppression silently.

In the final segment of the event, Paredez and Jefferson opened the floor to audience questions. Paredez delved into the unique relationship divas have with their bodies and age, emphasizing how many defy cultural norms that often marginalize women over 40. She also shared insights into her career as a pop culture scholar, noting that her intellectual work frequently stems from a curious examination of the cultural trends around her.

The hour-long event highlighted Paredez’s extraordinary writing and thought-provoking analysis showcased in her book. However, the most powerful aspect of Paredez’s work is how she brings the diva down from her pedestal. Paredez’s diva is not confined to a stage or a big screen; she transcends the extraordinary. Paredez calls on us to find the diva within ourselves, emphasizing that the diva is not merely an archetype but a way of being. She can exist in all of us if we permit ourselves to embrace our unruliness.

Event image via author