AMERICAN QUEER LITERARY TRADITION

Catalog description

1900-present Course, American Literature Course, 20th-Century Contemporary Literature Course, Gender/ Sexuality Course, WGSS elective course. This course looks at gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered American writers to better understand the GLBT literary tradition in the U.S. We will examine how sexuality and sexual difference influences these writers' style and ideas, how these writers influence each other, how they influence the larger literary establishment, and how they help shape the discourse on social issues in America. This course will center on novels and memoirs, but include poetry and plays by writers such as Tennessee Williams, James Baldwin, Christopher Isherwood, William Burroughs, Leslie Feinberg, Dorothy Allison, Michael Cunningham, Sarah Schulman, Marilyn Hacker, Samuel Delany, and Alison Bechdel.