Queer Literatures

Examines contemporary queer literature and film concerned with both the formation and formulation of queer identities. Asks a series of questions: What distinguishes and differentiates queer aesthetics? What does it mean to be queer? Who can or should represent queer identities? Examines works that traverse sexual, racial, national, and political lines. Careful and critical attention to a plurality of queer expressions and representations. Authors may include: Shyam Selvadurai, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, Tony Kushner, James Baldwin, Dionne Brand, Jeffrey Eugenides, Ismat Chughtai, Leslie Feinberg, Shani Mootoo, Manuel Puig, and William Burroughs. Films may include: Boys Dont Cry, Happy Together, Fire, Philadelphia, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Before Night Falls, and Paris is Burning.