WGSS 07.05: Gay Literature/Escritura Gay in the Americas
Starting from the complex question on how to define and delimit gay literature (along the author's or protagonist's sexual identity, the plot, the reader's expectations, etc.?), this course will discern some central aspects of gay writing in the Americas. As the title implies, emphasis will be both on the commonalities and the differences that shaped gay experiences in North and South America, such as notions of masculinity/femininity, the influence of religion and indigenous cultural traditions, the impact of democratic or authoritarian politics, colonialism, race and ethnicity. Readings will focus on novels, essays, plays, poems, and movies from the 1950s to the present and may include texts by Reinaldo Arenas, James Baldwin, Alison Bechdel, Leo Bersani, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Christopher Isherwood, Toni Kushner, Manuel Puig, Severo Sarduy, Michael Warner and others. Dist: INT or LIT. WCult: CI.
Professor Milich
3B Hour