e 314v: gay & lesbian literature and culture

"What do queers want? This volume takes for granted that the answer is not just sex. Sexual desires themselves can imply other wants, ideals, and conditions. And queers live as queers, as lesbians, as gays, as homosexuals, in contexts other than sex. In different ways queer politics might therefore have implications for any area of social life. Following Marx's definition of critical theory as the 'self-clarification of the struggles and wishes of the age,' we might think of queer theory as the project of elaborating, in ways that cannot be predicted in advance, this question: What do queers want?"
:: Michael Warner, writing in Fear of a Queer Planet: Queer Politics and Social Theory

This class will provide students with a context for understanding how gay and lesbian literature and culture in the 20th and 21st centuries have been shaped by the social, cultural, and political circumstances in which they emerged, but also how they influenced or transformed these circumstances. To do this, we will explore the intersections of so-called "alternative" and "mainstream" (literary, cultural, social) values as they are expressed in texts from a variety of genres and perspectives. Primary and secondary readings will touch upon a wide range of topics, including the history of (homo)sexuality; race, gender, class, ethnicity, religion and sexuality; AIDS narratives; gay and lesbian political rights movements; and the emergence of identity politics and queer consciousness. Students will especially be encouraged to explore the nature of self-representation as it pertains both to the creation of literary texts (and other art forms) as well as the formation of gay and lesbian identities in a social context.

Along the way, students will also be introduced to some of the basic skills of literary and cultural study, including close textual analysis, class discussion, informal and formal writing, and peer review. Since we will be working in a computer classroom, some familiarity with basic computing is presumed. Students should also be advised that they will be required to attend and write about at least one GLBTQ event outside of class. Finally, I will arrange a required screening and discussion of the 1999 film Boys Don't Cry outside of class during the week of March 17.