Abstract
Foreign Constellations is a magical realist collection that centers queer people of color in states of displacement. Facing disconnect from their own tribes along axes of faith, cultural tradition, sexuality, race, geography, and more, the Black and Hispanic characters in these eight stories chafe against the capacity of intersectionality to stratify rather than unite. They are, however, all Floridians, challenging the constraints of national perception with the breadth of their lived experiences. Set across Florida and beyond, each piece sees its protagonists venture into unfamiliar surroundings, or else return to old homes they no longer know how to navigate. A young woman and her sphinx companion run an uncomfortable errand on the Georgia border. Just outside the glow of Miami, a homeless grifter makes an unlikely arrangement with a palmist at his time-traveling condo. A couple test their differences at a beach near Cape Canaveral, where the water reveals people's thoughts. The characters in these stories seek opportunity in magical soil, closure from sentient reflections, and kinship in the shedding of skin, reevaluating the parameters of family and interrogating what it means to belong.
Notes
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Graduation Date
2023
Semester
Spring
Advisor
Poissant, David
Degree
Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)
College
College of Arts and Humanities
Department
English
Degree Program
Creative Writing
Identifier
CFE0009846; DP0028139
URL
https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0028139
Language
English
Release Date
November 2023
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Masters Thesis (Open Access)
STARS Citation
Archer, Steven, "Foreign Constellations" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023. 1875.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd2020/1875