Graduation Term
2017
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Department of English
Committee Chair
Christopher Breu
Abstract
In this thesis, I examine the tensions between intersex embodiment and trans* identity, intersex children and their parents, and the intimacies that come out of these relationships – which, I argue, are ultimately queer. Using queer, trans*, and intersex theory, as well as feminist new materialisms, I highlight the ways in which the imbrications of the material and the symbolic are presented in Alyssa Brugman’s contemporary Young Adult novel, Alex as Well. The goal of this analysis is to encourage a separation from binary thinking and explore the possibility of nonbinary identifications in literature – more specifically, literature with intersex representation.
Access Type
Thesis-Open Access
Recommended Citation
Rodriguez, Karlie, "Considering the Body: Sexual Agency and Material Selfhood in Alex As Well" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 772.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/772
DOI
http://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2017.Rodriguez.K