English and drama

Queer Fictions

Module code: Q3186D
Level 6
30 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Dissertation

What are the stories we tell about queer lives – to ourselves and to others? To what extent are these all, in their own ways, fictions? Queer Fictions explores how queer lives and identities have been represented through story. Centrally, the module considers how “queer” may push at the boundaries of literary form, seeking new and other shapes. Queer Fictions focuses on post-WWII American literature, inviting students to explore changing representations of queerness in US literature and culture. These literary works offer diverse perspectives on class, race, nation, gender, sexuality, and disability, among other nuances of identity. The module’s literary texts are presented alongside selected queer theories, giving students an in-depth understanding of key contemporary debates in queer studies. Queer Fictions thus equips students to bring theoretical concepts into conversation with literary texts in their own critical writing. At the same time, students are invited to reflect on the complex status of “queer fictions” through opportunities to develop their own creative work in dialogue with the module’s literary and theoretical studies. Queer Fictions is assessed by a portfolio of writing that allows students to submit solely critical work; or to submit a combination of creative and critical work.