Keywords

Literature of AIDS, Deleuze, Queer Theory, Butler, Queer Bildungsroman, Sarah Schulman

Abstract

The advent of the bildungsroman with Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship was a seminal moment in literature. From that point onward, the genre, which would come to be known as the “coming-of-age” novel, evolved and as such developed a variety of subgenres. This thesis focuses on the queer bildungsroman, a subgenre which has been dubbed the “coming-out” novel. Through Judith Butler’s work, I conceptualize genre as gender. Additionally, I utilize the Deleuzian concepts of the rhizome, becoming, and minor literature along with literature of AIDS to argue that the queer bildungsroman is not solely the coming out novel. In doing so I argue that there is room for a multiplicity of understanding, one that does not center cisgender heteronormative society in the queer bildungsroman. Sarah Schulman’s Rat Bohemia is a rhizomatic, queer bildungsroman, that largely deals with AIDS and by performing a close reading of her novel I am able to provide working examples of my theoretical undertakings to broaden the queer bildungsroman beyond solely the “coming-out” novel.

Completion Date

2025

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Beck, Christian

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

English

Identifier

DP0029409

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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