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LITERARY IDENTITIES in TRANSITION Laura Broom A

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LITERARY IDENTITIES in TRANSITION Laura Broom A TO BE CONTINUED: LITERARY IDENTITIES IN TRANSITION Laura Broom A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English and Comparative Literature. Chapel Hill 2019 Approved by: Danielle Christmas Pam Cooper María DeGuzmán Heidi Kim Michelle Robinson © 2019 Laura Broom ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Laura Broom: “To Be Continued: Literary Identities in Transition” (Under the direction of Danielle Christmas) While “trans studies” originally appeared as an abbreviated version of “transgender studies,” this term is now being explored as its own productive category. The actual experience of transgender identity demonstrates how a category may be flexible and prompts imagining how other identity categories may be mutable as well. This project relies on the prefix “trans” to describe the process of continuing development. Starting from a position steeped in gender studies, these chapters examine representations of trans identity in contemporary Anglophone novels to explore subjects in flux and in becoming. This dissertation analyzes literary moments when the individual’s sense of self contends with the socially recognized self. Such a focus on transition, representation, and expression reveals that these characters defy easy categorization. Ultimately, these narratives demonstrate how identity is an ongoing process, one which is subject to social recognition of the evolving individual. Each chapter of this dissertation concentrates on a recent novel that exemplifies a different aspect of trans studies: transgender, transrace, transhuman, and transpedagogy. Chapter 1 examines the transition from a fixed gender identity to a more fluid one in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex (2002), a narrative teeming with transitions and transformations that broadens our understanding of selfhood. Chapter 2 delves into Jess Row’s speculative novel Your Face in Mine (2014) to explore the limits and possibilities of individual choice regarding racial identity. Chapter 3 evaluates how the category of “human” is narratively conferred, extended, and iii delimited in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (2005). Finally, Chapter 4 introduces the concept of transpedagogy, which brings together trans theory and critical pedagogy, alongside a discussion of teaching Patricia Powell’s The Pagoda (1998). Here literary representations of trans experiences illuminate concepts of identity, transition, and recognition—socially relevant subjects for undergraduate students to understand. Throughout this project, the concept of trans is used to approach larger questions of subjectivity and narrative. These fictional transitions foster thinking about extant human realities from different angles, as well as unsettle assumptions regarding what and whom we value. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks to my dissertation committee members: Danielle Christmas, Pam Cooper, María DeGuzmán, Heidi Kim, and Michelle Robinson. Thanks also to Neel Ahuja, GerShun Avilez, Jennifer Ho, and Ruth Salvaggio. This project could not have been finished without the support of my colleagues and friends Nicole Berland, Emma Calabrese, Lina Kuhn, Kenneth Lota, Rachel Norman, and Kym Weed. For their steadfast patience and encouragement, I thank Alexander Broom, Jim Broom, Sarah Broom Hubbell, and Beth Humphrey. This work is dedicated to Craig Reed. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction................................................................................................................ 1 Trans Relevance......................................................................................................... 4 Trans Possibilities...................................................................................................... 7 Chapter Summaries.................................................................................................... 9 Conclusion............................................................................................................... 12 Works Cited............................................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER 1: TRANS GENDER: GENDER FLUX IN MIDDLESEX.............................. 16 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 16 Transgender Meanings............................................................................................. 20 Transgender Stories................................................................................................. 26 Responses to Middlesex........................................................................................... 30 Intersex Experiences................................................................................................ 32 Influential Sexuality................................................................................................. 37 Gender Developments.............................................................................................. 42 Identities in Transition............................................................................................. 48 Identity Expressions................................................................................................. 55 Conclusion............................................................................................................... 62 Works Cited............................................................................................................. 64 vi CHAPTER 2: TRANS RACE: RECOGNITION AND TRANSITION IN YOUR FACE IN MINE................................................................................................... 67 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 67 Responses to Transracial Identity............................................................................ 71 Representations of Racial Identity........................................................................... 79 Racial Identity in Your Face in Mine....................................................................... 84 Passing Identities..................................................................................................... 88 Transracial Possibilities........................................................................................... 94 Conclusion............................................................................................................. 102 Works Cited........................................................................................................... 106 CHAPTER 3: TRANS HUMAN: NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVES IN NEVER LET ME GO.................................................................................................... 109 Introduction............................................................................................................ 109 Posthumanism & Transhumanism......................................................................... 114 Clone Narratives.................................................................................................... 121 Kathy’s Narrative................................................................................................... 125 Ideological Narratives............................................................................................ 129 Agential Narratives................................................................................................ 135 Guardians’ Perspectives......................................................................................... 143 Clones’ Perspectives.............................................................................................. 153 Readers’ Perspectives............................................................................................ 157 Conclusion............................................................................................................. 161 Works Cited........................................................................................................... 163 vii CHAPTER 4: TRANS PEDAGOGY: CONNECTING AND CROSSING IDENTITY CATEGORIES IN THE CLASSROOM........................................................ 167 Introduction............................................................................................................ 167 Trans on Campus................................................................................................... 169 Transpedagogy....................................................................................................... 171 Transpedagogy....................................................................................................... 174 Trans in Class......................................................................................................... 174 Trans Narratives..................................................................................................... 180 A Case Study of Teaching Trans: The Pagoda...................................................... 182 A Case Study of Teaching Trans: Students Respond............................................ 191 Conclusion............................................................................................................. 195 Works
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