Queer Prose Literature and Theory

3 credits · Undergraduate

What do we mean when we say a work of literature is "queer"? Is a book queer if it is written by a publicly identified member of the LGBTQIA+ community? Can a straight-identified writer write a "queer" book? And what do we mean when we use "queer" as a verb? What does it mean to queer a tradition, a trope, a genre? This course will examine the ways in which writers in the 20th and 21st centuries have rendered queer lives in increasingly uncoded and un-closeted ways. We will read novels, short stories, and memoir pieces, as well as several foundational thinkers in queer theory. Students will be asked to work toward three main objectives: 1) To understand a literary work's "queerness" in terms of form and style, not just content; 2) To gain a sense of the central terms, concepts, and debates in queer theory and politics; and 3) To apply their understanding of queer aesthetics and politics to both their critical and creative writing.