Independent Study Fall 2011

GAY FICTION AFTER STONEWALL Golden Age: The 1970s This Three-Credit Independent Study course is Part Two (Gay Fiction after Stonewall) of a socio-historical study of the gay-male canon of literary fiction in the twenty and twenty-first centuries. Part One (Gay Fiction before Stonewall) was completed in a three-credit Independent Study course in the Fall 2011 semester. Literature from this canon of gay-male fiction will be the focus of this student’s Critical Thesis component of the MFA Final Manuscript due at the end of the Fall 2012 semester.  This study will also be read in the context of the writing of a novella which will be used for the Creative Prose Manuscript component of the MFA Final Manuscript also due at the end of the Fall 2012 semester. The canon of queer literature has not been conclusively established and at this time suppressed literature is still being published, coded works are being reclaimed, and current authors are looking back and writing socio-historically about the queer experience. The scope of this study has been narrowed to focus on works of prose fiction (especially the novel); I have left out lesbian and transgender texts in an attempt to narrow the focus of this study.  This segment spans a time period of ten years: from 1970, just after the Stonewall Riots in June of 1969 (which symbolize the onset of the Gay Rights Movement in the US), and ending with the onset of the AIDS Crisis in 1980. Each book selected had large influence at the time of publication or has importance in our current understanding of this particular time period of gay history in the United States.  This particular time period represents moving out of a closeted time of homosexuality into a time of expression, identity, and representation—a cultural explosion of sorts—and these texts respond to that in different ways.

Learning Goals: Describe the overall purpose and scope of the course and, in general terms, what knowledge and skills the I.S. is meant to provide.  Use such action verbs as identify, describe, analyze, compare, define, etc.
This course will examine the lives of gay characters in fictional works set in the immediate post-Stonewall time period of history (1970-1979).  This historical setting brings with it certain responses.  Homosexuality exploded out of the closet; expression, identity, representation, and politics will all be analyzed in the light of an emerging gay culture.  This course will identify that experience, comparing the various stories with each other, and viewing them through the lens of critical theory in terms of class, identity, representation, sexuality, gender, and interpersonal relationships among characters as well as socio-political implications of texts themselves.  The marginalized Other—gay men in this case—will be defined in the context of the hegemonic social constraints and the breaking through and disavowal of the closet and anti-gay oppression.  This study will identify the powers and forces at work, the dynamics that bring the protagonists through their journeys, and thus elucidate upon possible antecedent factors and impact of behavioral decisions made by characters throughout the texts, especially in regards to identity and representation.
Research Plan: List research materials and sources.  E.g. books, videotapes, lectures, films, interviews, articles, etc.  Include page numbers and chapters.  Keep in mind that research plans cannot entirely depend on an event such as a workshop or lecture.  If the workshop or lecture is cancelled, the I.S. must still be completed.
Novels 1.      Daniel Curzon – Something You Do in the Dark (1971) 2.      Melvin Dixon – Vanishing Rooms (1991) 3.      Patricia Nell Warren – The Front Runner (1974) 4.      Andrew Holleran – Dancer from the Dance (1978) 5.      Larry Kramer – Faggots (1978) 6.      Armistead Maupin – More Tales of the City (1980) 7.      Terry Andrews – The Story of Harold (1974) 8.      John Rechy – Rushes (1979) 9.      Samuel R. Delany – The Tides of Lust (1973) [AKA Equinox, 1994] Documentary Film Nancy Adair, Andrew Brown, Rob Epstein, dirs. – Word Is Out (1977) Joseph F. Lovett, dir. – Gay Sex in the 70s (2005) Pierre Gang, dir. – More Tales of the City (1998) Theory Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick – Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire (1985) David M. Halperin – How to Do the History of Homosexuality (2002) Christopher Bram – Mapping the Territory (2009)

Description of the Assignments:  Form of final project, paper, or presentation topics; length, style, or other specifications of final work.  Include specifics such as length of papers, journal entries, or video; number of art pieces; length of music composition; etc.
The course will have three critical essays each comparing three novels. The first essay will compare the three novels Something You Do in the Dark, Vanishing Rooms, and The Front Runner.  It will focus on the following topic: How does gay culture respond to homophobia, discrimination, and anti-gay violence during the 1970s?  What role does hegemonic power and privilege play?  Where else is power found and how is this represented in culture and in literature? What is the role of a protest novel? ◦     This paper should be 8-12 pages in length. The second essay will compare the three novels Dancer from the Dance, Faggots, and More Tales of the City.  This essay will focus on the following topic: At this time of gay cultural explosion, how does social identity and representation form? How does this function in the gay ghetto and in larger society? ◦     This paper should be 8-12 pages in length. The third essay will compare the three novels The Story of Harold, Rushes, and Tides of Lust.  This essay will focus on the following topic: How does leather/BDSM culture operate in the 1970s gay scene?  What role does personal power play in relationships and how is that reflected elsewhere?  How are sexuality and desire represented in these texts? ◦     This paper should be 8-12 pages in length.