Graduation Term
2016
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Department of English: English Studies
Committee Chair
Ricardo C. Cruz
Abstract
The experience of many queer subjects in "coming-out" often results in a great deal of continued adversity over the course of their lifetimes, in spite of what popular, exceptionalized narratives such as the "It Gets Better" campaign might suggest. "Coming out" often entails a great deal of trauma, thus making the need to continue "coming out" a source from which anguish continues to emanate and affect queer bodies. Unfortunately, there are few fictional texts dealing specifically with "coming-out" trauma narratives. Queer subjects who continue to endure trauma through the act of "coming out" often discover that the written worlds of their experiences are either recklessly optimistic, or cruel and inhospitable. This project seeks to begin a new conversation towards addressing the great lack of visibility concerning "coming-out" trauma narratives in works of fiction, and it seeks to define a possible means of developing literary works that can resolve this absence.
Access Type
Thesis-Open Access
Recommended Citation
Pitman, Eric Jason, "Queer Horizons: Queer Assemblages and ( re ) Visioning the"Coming-out"Trauma Narrative in Fiction, a Critical Introduction" (2016). Theses and Dissertations. 537.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/537
DOI
http://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2016.Pitman.E