Date of Award

Summer 8-24-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

English

First Advisor

Nicole de Fee

Abstract

In current discussions of queer theory, terms such as “post-gay” leave room for misrepresentation. The premise behind this term serves a primarily cisgenderheterosexual agenda by promising the assimilation of queer individuals into the dominant society. For this reason, I prefer to align the term “post-closet” with the queer person’s journey towards, and past, such societal barriers while maintaining the significance of foundational queer theories. In his novel Summer Sons, Lee Mandelo depicts Andrew Blur’s journey through the grief-ridden confines of the closet as he seeks a new identity following the death of his best friend. Mandelo accomplishes this by juxtaposing two layers of enclosure to the openness of nature. The first layer of these enclosures is that of automotives as a primary means of expressive masculinity and sexuality. The bedrooms in the house at Capitol Street serve as the next layer of enclosure, but they are not as confining as the cars. Andrew is free to move from one room to another as he progresses through his sexual identity. These enclosures oppose the openness of nature as Andrew must return to the old family home to release a cursed and haunted past back into the earth. As a self-identified Queer Southern Gothic novel, Summer Sons utilizes familiar gothic themes to translate Andrew’s journey through the familiar gothic-as-queer tradition as he progresses towards a post-closet identity.

Download

Share

COinS