Type of Document Master's Thesis Author Neill, Nora Author's Email Address noralwn@gmail.com URN etd-07172008-215947 Title Illuminating the Queer Subtext: the Unmentioned Affairs in Willa Cather's O Pioneers! Degree Master of Arts Department English Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title Dr. Audrey Goodman Committee Chair Dr. Mary Hocks Committee Member Dr. Nancy Chase Committee Member Keywords
- Alexandra Bergson
- trauma
- unconscious
- queer theory
Date of Defense 2008-07-01 Availability unrestricted Abstract Willa Cather contests the contemporary notion that identification links to a natural or original order. For example, that man equals masculine and femininity comes from an essential connection to woman. Cather deconstructs normativity through her use of character relationships in order to redefine successful interpersonal alliances. Thus, Alexandra, the protagonist of O Pioneers! builds a home and friendships that exemplify alternatives to stasis. My readings of O Pioneers! display the places in the novel where Cather subtly contests the ideology of naturalization. I make lesbian erotic and queer social interactions visible through a discourse on Cather’s symbolism. I favor queer theory as a mode of inquiry that magnifies the power and presence of heteronormativity and I examine Cather’s work as a critique of cultural principles that inflict violence against individuals who participate in dissent from conformity.Files
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