Angel Matos | Bowdoin College Thursday, January 28, 2021 | 3:00-4:00 PM CST
Zoom information will be posted to https://ccb.ischool.illinois.edu/ss/ on the day of the event.
When we look at texts with queer themes and characters published throughout the twentieth century and beyond, words such as “hope,” “optimism,” and “happiness” are generally not the first to come to mind. In many ways, these texts can be approached as an archive of negative affect and emotion—a notion that is relatively unsurprising due to the oppression, violence, and discrimination that queer people and communities have experienced in the past and present. The fact that cultural productions focused on nonnormative sexualities and gender identities became an archive marked by pessimism and despair has significant effects in terms of how we examine queer texts crafted and circulated today. These effects are especially palpable when it comes to queer representation in contemporary young adult literature, which frames young queer life and experience in ways that are commonly approached as “hopeful,” “positive,” and “optimistic.” Young adult texts therefore serve as a case study to examine the emotional and narrative transformation of queer literature in light of changes in the sociocultural circumstances of queerness (especially in a U.S. context), and the broader implications that arise when queer literature centers on notions such as happiness, joy, and hope. In other words, queer young adult literature presents us with the opportunity to examine an instance in which a field characterized and cultivated by negative emotions and attachments has transformed into one meant to instill a sense of optimism, comfort, and resilience for younger audiences. Through an examination of the notoriously “sad” and “devastating” works of Adam Silvera—including his novels More Happy Than Not, History is All You Left Me, and They Both Die At the End—this talk will explore the possibilities, tensions, and issues that emerge when contemporary queer young adult novels center negative emotions and galvanize the legacy of hurt and oppression that was foundational in the development of the queer imagination. Even more so, a close examination of Silvera’s works will demonstrate the negotiations and compromises that queer young adult literature must make in merging queer and young adult representations, and the possibilities that this merger suggests for redefining what we mean by happiness and optimism in the first place.
