Date of Award
Spring 5-5-2023
Level of Access Assigned by Author
Open-Access Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
Advisor
Benjamin Friedlander
Second Committee Member
Elizabeth Neiman
Third Committee Member
Rosalie Purvis
Abstract
While the academic concept of queer diasporic studies is relatively new, the epistemic future of this interdisciplinary, intersectional, and inclusive field is already imperiled. Throughout recent years, bills seeking to expunge critical race and queer theory from not only the public education sector, but from the legally-defined “general public” as well, have been proposed by legislators throughout the United States. To combat this assault upon marginalized educators, scholars, and authors, one must first understand what is at stake; the rich site of contemporary, queer diasporic poetry provides one such example. By situating these poems within their complex cultural, political, and historical contexts, the proximity of today’s oppressive legislature to America’s colonialist, imperialist, and even fascist history become disturbingly clear.
Recommended Citation
Stanfield, Caitlin, ""A Stranger in America": Queer Diasporic Writers and the American Politics of Exclusion" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3790.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/3790