ENG 255 A LGBTQ LITERATURE AND CULTURE
LGBTQ Literature and Culture introduces students to seminal texts in the queer literary canon and to foundational ideas in queer studies. Much of our work will be in close reading – the careful, in-depth analysis of language which is the hallmark of study in English. As we read, however, we will also think carefully about identity: what do we mean by “lesbian,” “gay” or “bisexual"? By “trans-”? By “queer”? Ultimately, students will assess queer literatures not merely through explicitly queer content or the author’s public identity, but likewise through methods of reading: what does it mean to “read queerly,” and how is such a practice important to LGBTQ people, politics, and art?