Publicação
On sap and blood: family trees, literary legacies and systems of kinship in contemporary representations of queer families
| Resumo: | Through a comparative reading of several literary works, while also evoking other art forms, namely photography, this thesis will address matters of queer kinship, inheritance and legacy in contemporary representations of families in the context of the United States of America, namely in two novels Middlesex (2002) by Jeffrey Eugenides (1960-) and The Great Believers (2018) by Rebecca Makkai (1978-), a play, The Inheritance (2018) by Matthew Lopez (1977-) and a memoir, The Argonauts (2015) by Maggie Nelson (1973-). This comparative reading is established through a dialogue between a set of metaphors that permeate the case studies (ghosts, family trees) while also exploring how the discourses about queer bodies and families have been reshaped and challenged over the last twenty years. Looking at families, in the context of queer theories and kinship studies, is perceived as a way of analysing how heteronormative norms shape both the home and the social, as well as how queer individuals have been producing both alternative but also assimilationist kinship structures that guarantee structures for safety and care. Ultimately, this thesis intends to open up a discussion about how queer families have been represented in literature and other art forms, how these representations reinforce or challenge notions of nuclear families and how these are shaped by social and gender norms, and how one generation of artists can contribute, not only to the representation of their times but also to a transgenerational legacy of cultural references. |
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| Autores principais: | Carvalho, Ana Sofia Bessa |
| Assunto: | Families Genealogy Literature Memory Queer temporalities Famílias Genealogia Literatura Memória Temporalidades queer Humanidades::Línguas e Literaturas |
| Ano: | 2022 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | tese de doutoramento |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | Through a comparative reading of several literary works, while also evoking other art forms, namely photography, this thesis will address matters of queer kinship, inheritance and legacy in contemporary representations of families in the context of the United States of America, namely in two novels Middlesex (2002) by Jeffrey Eugenides (1960-) and The Great Believers (2018) by Rebecca Makkai (1978-), a play, The Inheritance (2018) by Matthew Lopez (1977-) and a memoir, The Argonauts (2015) by Maggie Nelson (1973-). This comparative reading is established through a dialogue between a set of metaphors that permeate the case studies (ghosts, family trees) while also exploring how the discourses about queer bodies and families have been reshaped and challenged over the last twenty years. Looking at families, in the context of queer theories and kinship studies, is perceived as a way of analysing how heteronormative norms shape both the home and the social, as well as how queer individuals have been producing both alternative but also assimilationist kinship structures that guarantee structures for safety and care. Ultimately, this thesis intends to open up a discussion about how queer families have been represented in literature and other art forms, how these representations reinforce or challenge notions of nuclear families and how these are shaped by social and gender norms, and how one generation of artists can contribute, not only to the representation of their times but also to a transgenerational legacy of cultural references. |
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