Finally breaking through heterosexual clichés of flirtatious belles and
cavaliers, sinister black rapists and lusty "Jezebels," Cotton's Queer Relations
exposes the queer dynamics embedded in myths of the southern plantation. Focusing on works by Ernest
J. Gaines, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Lillian Hellman, Katherine Anne Porter, Margaret
Walker, William Styron, and Arna Bontemps, Michael P. Bibler shows how each one uses figures of
same-sex intimacy to suggest a more progressive alternative to the pervasive inequalities tied
historically and symbolically to the South's most iconic institution.Bibler looks
specifically at relationships between white men of the planter class, between plantation mistresses
and black maids, and between black men, arguing that while the texts portray the plantation as a
rigid hierarchy of differences, these queer relations privilege a notion of sexual sameness that
joins the individuals as equals in a system where equality is rare indeed. Bibler reveals how these
models of queer egalitarianism attempt to reconcile the plantation's regional legacies with
national debates about equality and democracy, particularly during the eras of the New Deal, World
War II, and the civil rights movement. Cotton's Queer Relations charts bold new
territory in southern studies and queer studies alike, bringing together history and cultural theory
to offer innovative readings of classic southern texts.
Copyright:
2009
Book Details
Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
312 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780813929842
Related ISBNs:
9780813927923
Publisher:
University of Virginia Press
Date of Addition:
05/07/13
Copyrighted By:
the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia