Program
Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature
College
Arts and Sciences
Student Level
Master's
Location
PAÍS Building
Start Date
10-11-2022 11:00 AM
End Date
10-11-2022 1:00 PM
Abstract
Through an analysis of two modern dystopian novels written by Michelle Tea and Wendy Delorme, I will explore how ecological catastrophes and societal changes are the triggers for the deconstruction of heteronormativity. Following traditions of dystopian narratives, those novels delve into notions of reproduction, nature as an escape, patriarchal expectations, anxiety, and feeling of belonging. Themes such as queer identities, queer relationships, subjectivity, and identity, but also eco-anxiety and solastalgia are also challenged in these texts. My first interest is in the environment and the feeling of belonging of a community and an individual in their habitat. Solastalgia is a notion introduced by Glenn Albrecht, that refers to environmentally induced distress and the loss of the feeling of belonging in one's environment because of its transformation. Both Wendy Delorme and Michelle Tea represent characters who are inflicted by mental health issues because of the complete change of their environment both natural and societal. They feel "solastalgic" in the sense that they do not feel like they belong in those dystopian realities My second interest is in the identification of those novels in a tradition of dystopian and utopian narratives in general and of narratives written by women in their respective countries, France and the United States. By identifying how they insert their books into those traditions, I aspire to point to the novelties that they are depicting in their stories.
The Deconstruction of Heteronormativity and The Presentation of Eco-Anxiety in Dystopian Novels Written by Women
PAÍS Building
Through an analysis of two modern dystopian novels written by Michelle Tea and Wendy Delorme, I will explore how ecological catastrophes and societal changes are the triggers for the deconstruction of heteronormativity. Following traditions of dystopian narratives, those novels delve into notions of reproduction, nature as an escape, patriarchal expectations, anxiety, and feeling of belonging. Themes such as queer identities, queer relationships, subjectivity, and identity, but also eco-anxiety and solastalgia are also challenged in these texts. My first interest is in the environment and the feeling of belonging of a community and an individual in their habitat. Solastalgia is a notion introduced by Glenn Albrecht, that refers to environmentally induced distress and the loss of the feeling of belonging in one's environment because of its transformation. Both Wendy Delorme and Michelle Tea represent characters who are inflicted by mental health issues because of the complete change of their environment both natural and societal. They feel "solastalgic" in the sense that they do not feel like they belong in those dystopian realities My second interest is in the identification of those novels in a tradition of dystopian and utopian narratives in general and of narratives written by women in their respective countries, France and the United States. By identifying how they insert their books into those traditions, I aspire to point to the novelties that they are depicting in their stories.
