Document Type

Honors Thesis

Major

English, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Advisor(s)

Jennie Woodard

Committee Members

Caroline Bicks, Laura Cowan, Mimi Killinger, Nancy Lewis

Graduation Year

May 2020

Publication Date

Spring 5-2020

Abstract

Feminist and queer narrative theory calls into question the systemic way of thinking about categorizations such as genre conventions, form, and length. The short story subverts all of these, flipping common love plots or hero arcs, denying readers whole pictures, and privileging plot over character development. Through the application of feminist and queer narrative theory, this study evaluates Lambda Literary Awardwinning texts from authors Chinelo Okparanta, Krystal Smith, and Carmen Maria Machado on how the function, form, and common conventions of the short story are subversive in nature and lend themselves to the functions, forms, and conventions of the queer narrative. Thus, the research explores how the subversive nature of the short story may parallel the subversive nature of feminist and queer theory and acknowledges the gaps in the publishing of, the recognition of, and the overall academic revere of the short story art form

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