Title James Baldwin and the queer imagination / Matt Brim

Published Ann Arbor : The University of Michigan Press, [2014] ©2014

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Description 1 online resource (x, 214 pages) Contents Introduction: James Baldwin theory : seeing the invisible -- James Baldwin's queer utility : black gay male literary tradition and 'Go tell it on the mountain' -- Paradoxical reading practices : 'Giovanni's room' as queer/gay/trans novel -- What straight men need : gay love in 'Another country' -- Papas' baby : impossible paternity in 'Going to meet the man' -- Conclusion: The queer imagination and the gay male conundrum Summary "The central figure in black gay literary history, James Baldwin has become a familiar touchstone for queer scholarship in the academy. Matt Brim's James Baldwin and the Queer Imagination draws on the contributions of queer theory and black queer studies to critically engage with and complicate the project of queering Baldwin and his work. Brim argues that Baldwin animates and, in contrast, disrupts both the black gay literary tradition and the queer theoretical enterprise that have claimed him. More paradoxically, even as Baldwin's fiction brilliantly succeeds in imagining queer intersections of race and sexuality, it simultaneously exhibits striking queer failures, whether exploiting gay love or erasing black lesbian desire. Brim thus argues that Baldwin's work is deeply marked by ruptures of the "unqueer" into transcendent queer thought--and that readers must sustain rather than override this paradoxical dynamic within acts of queer imagination"--Publisher's description Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-205) and index Notes English Print version record Subject Baldwin, James, 1924-1987 -- Criticism and interpretation SUBJECT Baldwin, James, 1924-1987 fast Subject Gay men's writings, American -- 20th century -- History and criticism African American gay men -- Intellectual life -- 20th century African American gay people -- Intellectual life Queer theory. African American gay people in literature Gay men in literature. Gay men's writings, American -- History and criticism SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Ethnic Studies -- African American Studies. LITERARY CRITICISM -- American -- General. LITERARY CRITICISM -- Gay & Lesbian. African American gays -- Intellectual life Gay men in literature Gay men's writings, American Queer theory Gay authors. LGBTQ+ authors. Queer authors. African American LGBTQ+ people. African American gay men. Theories. Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. Queer studies. Queer literary criticism. Literary criticism. Critiques littéraires. Form Electronic book LC no. 2020707139 ISBN 9780472120598 047212059X 9781322515212 1322515212 0472052349 9780472052349

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