I don't know anything about what would be relevant to a sexuality and narrative course but I really enjoyed reading James Baldwin- either Another Country or Giovanni's Room
Oooh ta. I've taught Giovanni's Room before, and may well resurrect it - good to get a vote for it (and there's a wonderfully titled article about it, "Tearing the Goats Flesh: Homosexuality, Abjection and the Production of a Late Twentieth-Century Black Masculinity.").
And should read Another Country, so thanks for that also.
Delany is ace. 'Stars in my pocket like grains of sand' is worth a look too. He plays with the language so that (a) it subtly uses taste metaphors instead of visual ones, and (b) the gendered pronouns change depending on the relationship of the teller to the person described. It means it has to be entirely subjective, there would be no way to use this language for objective descriptions of people.
Probably very obvious suggestions, sorrybooklecticSeptember 11 2009, 14:07:29 UTC
Toni Morrison, Genet, Salman Rushdie esp Grimus, Isabel Allende, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker. I read a strange and interesting book by a French writer called Pig Tales, and there was that famous book about sex by a French woman, Catherine someone - could check names when I get home.
Re: Probably very obvious suggestions, sorrydrdougSeptember 11 2009, 14:49:04 UTC
Salman Rushdie esp Grimus
Oooh, yes, you should totally use The Two-Time Kid's experience with the donkey out of that one. "It's disgustingly unpleasant" => queering the hegemonic notion of male experience of sexuality as positive and enjoyable. Also, donkey porn in the syllabus FTW.
Re: Probably very obvious suggestions, sorrybooklecticSeptember 11 2009, 17:06:42 UTC
I love Grimus SO MUCH. (Not primarily because of the donkey porn, although some of the sexual stuff was a bit of a revelation to my 15-year-old self...)
Re: Probably very obvious suggestions, sorrydrdougSeptember 11 2009, 19:05:28 UTC
Wait a minute, the donkey porn *wasn't* a revelation to your 15-year-old self? I thought I'd grown up knowing a lot about that sort of stuff (at least in book larnin' terms), but I think I must have had a considerably more sheltered adolescence by comparison.
This is very non-literary-canon (but I'm guessing you're not too fussed by that) but I think Pearl Cleage's 'I wish I had a red dress' would be really interesting to analyse. I bought it at random as standard chick lit (because the title appealed) but it turned out to be really interesting chick lit, largely about domestic violence and survivor issues. I think there'd be considerable scope for discussion in the way she resolves the plot issue about the difficulties of heterosexuality for black feminists (I dislike her solution). All the main characters are black and the heroine's a middle aged widow. I have a copy if you'd like to borrow to assess (will only take you about 5 mins to read, as very easy reading). I think her other stuff is better known but I haven't read any. (Thanks, this reminds me to add some of her other novels to my Christmas list)
Comments 21
Reply
And should read Another Country, so thanks for that also.
Reply
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lotus-Another-Color-Rakesh-Ratti/dp/1555831710
about south east asian sexuality.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Oooh, yes, you should totally use The Two-Time Kid's experience with the donkey out of that one. "It's disgustingly unpleasant" => queering the hegemonic notion of male experience of sexuality as positive and enjoyable. Also, donkey porn in the syllabus FTW.
Reply
I think I might need to reread it again soon.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment