Keywords

Magical realism; Queer identity; Displacement; Intersectionality; Florida

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)

Subjects

Short stories, American--Minority authors; Short stories, Hispanic authors; Experimental fiction, Latin American; Transnationalism in literature; Spanish American fiction--Black authors

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