Literary studies

Queer literature is as old as literature itself, and it is more common than we might think. Even the most influential literary text in western literature, the Bible, contains stories or passages that have been claimed by queer theologians. Shakespeare – for many years at the centre of the English canon – wrote sonnets and plays that have been read queerly. Contemporary queer literature incorporates a range of genres, such as fiction, poetry, memoir, and drama. It encompasses a variety of themes and motifs, including coming out, self-realization, alienation from society, found family, erotic longing, and the celebration of queer joy, beauty, and pleasure. Queer literature is written and consumed by those who are queer and by those who are not. Subject to historical and ongoing attempts at suppression, queer literature has played and continues to play an essential role in validating queer community and experiences, and in challenging hetero- and gender-normativity.