English Language and Literature ETDs

Publication Date

Spring 4-15-2019

Abstract

My dissertation examines the genre of weird fiction, specifically texts that engage the concept of the Weird West. While authors such as Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft are often seen as the founders of this genre, I argue that ethnic and women writers, such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Ishmael Reed, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lucha Corpi, and others, explore the hidden histories of the West and Southwest in ways that incite a rethinking of the weird. Most importantly, I seek to demonstrate how the weird is not only a literary genre but a literary aesthetic and methodology that women and ethnic writers deploy against violent patriarchy and white supremacy in addition to misleading and dangerous fantasies of the Old West.

Degree Name

English

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

English

First Committee Member (Chair)

Dr. Melina Vizcaíno-Alemán

Second Committee Member

Dr. Bernadine Hernández

Third Committee Member

Dr. Virginia Scharff

Fourth Committee Member

Dr. Sara Spurgeon

Language

English

Keywords

American Literature, Southwestern Literature, Western Literature, English literature, Leslie Marmon Silko, Rudolfo Anaya

Document Type

Dissertation

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