We will read poems, plays, memoirs and novels about LBGTQIA life in the United States. The course will begin in the mid-to-late 19th century with Walt Whitman and end with a genderqueer memoir from 2019. Themes to be covered include the conflict between the American ideal of openness and the need for secrecy and a closeted life; ideas of nature and the “unnatural;” diverse notions of gender and sexuality; religious influences, particularly those of evangelical Christianity; the AIDS epidemic; the changing views of Freudians and other theorists of “the norm;” politics and humor. Both the cultural and scholarly fields are constantly evolving. We may evaluate scholarly perspectives which examine the roles of same-sex desire across cultures along with those perceiving desire itself as a cultural construction. Students are invited to suggest readings as well.
Students should purchase the following at the University bookstore or online:
Rita Mae Brown, Rubyfruit Jungle (1973)
Larry Kramer The Normal Heart (1985)
Tony Kushner, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (1993)
Martin Duberman, Cures Martin Duberman (1992, 2002)
Alison Bechdel, Fun Home (2006) (graphic memoir)
Jennifer Finney Boylan She’s Not There (2013)
Maia Kobabe, Gender Queer (graphic memoir) 2019 |
