English 188A-1 - Winter, 2012

Topics in Literary and Critical Theory

Topic: Queer Theory

Class Information

Instructor: Freeman, Elizabeth
CRN: 54709
Time: TR 12:10-1:30
Location: 308 Voorhies

Description

This course will introduce students to some of the foundational texts of queer theory, from thinkers such as Cathy Cohen, Cherríe Moraga, Foucault, Jonathan Ned Katz, Eve Sedgwick, Judith Butler, Leo Bersani, José Muñoz, Lee Edelman, Kathryn Bond Stockton, and others. We will set these theories alongside novels, short stories, and plays that pulse with queer energy, but may or may not be about LGBT people. Topics to be covered include race and sexuality, the history of sexuality, queer deconstruction, trans theory, AIDS theory, the anti-social thesis, queer temporalities, and queer kinship.

Grading

Short midterm exercise: 20%
Long final paper: 40%
In-class participation: 25%
Blog entries: 15%

Texts

Queer Theory: An Introduction, Annamarie Jagose
The Invention of Sexuality, Michel Foucault
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
Heroes, Saints, and Other Plays, Cherrie Moraga
Orlando, Virginia Woolf
Rolling the Rs, R. Zamora Linmark
Sula, Toni Morrison
The Member of the Wedding, Carson McCullers