32203

SoSe 14: Queer Expatriate Literature of the 20th Century

Ben Robbins

Comments

This course will explore the mobility of queer identity by looking at the anglophone novels that arose from various metropolitan centers by queer authors of the 20th century. This will include Djuna Barnes, Gertrude Stein, and, later, James Baldwin in Paris; Paul Bowles and William Burroughs in Tangier; and Christopher Isherwood in Berlin. The seminar will also consider British queer writers' expatriate experience in the US, particularly Isherwood in Los Angeles and Quentin Crisp in New York. Central to the critical methodology of the course will be studying the relation between queer identity and transnational movements/migrations in this rich body of expatriate literature. The works of fiction that structure the syllabus span almost the entirety of the 20th century, covering works of modernist, Beat, and postmodern literature; these novels will be approached alongside creative non-fiction and autobiography where appropriate. The course intends to provide a survey of modern queer subjectivity as expressed through literature, but will also trace the genealogy of the transnational queer and explore the relevance of this concept to the current age of globalization. close

14 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Wed, 12:00 - 14:00 14 Class schedule

Wed, 2014-04-16 12:00 - 14:00

Lecturers:
Benjamin Robbins