ENGL 391
Contemporary North American Queer Literatures and Theories Fall 2024
Division I D Difference, Power, and Equity
Cross-listed WGSS 391

Moving through the mid-twentieth century and into the twenty-first, this course will consider how North American writers have represented queer life in all its complexities. From the problem of the happy ending to the intersectional politics of representation, the narrative complexities of coming out to the rejection of identity, the course will consider the relationship between literary form and queer content. In so doing, it will also touch upon some of the key debates in queer literary theory and consider the impact of events such as civil rights movements, gay and lesbian and trans uprisings, the AIDS crisis, debates over respectability politics, and current efforts to police what students read in schools on literary and cultural production. Readings may include work by such authors as Baldwin, Highsmith, Rich, Lorde, Delany, Kushner, Feinberg, Bechdel, Thom, and Machado and theorists such as Ferguson, Sedgwick, Fawaz, Love, Butler, and Hartman.