A Novel Idea: a Narrative Inquiry Into Queer Engagements with Fiction

A Novel Idea: A Narrative Inquiry into Queer Engagements with Fiction By Jeffrey Daniel Lloyd A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Curriculum, Teaching, & Learning Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Jeffrey Daniel Lloyd 2015 A Novel Idea: A Narrative Inquiry into Queer Engagements with Fiction Jeffrey Daniel Lloyd Doctor of Philosophy Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto 2015 Abstract This thesis explores the role reading novels (textual or graphic) played in the survival and desires of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer) students. At the time this research project was conceived, there were not many psychoanalytic and queer feminist critical literacy research studies concerned with how LGBTQ students were using literacy in relation to self-care and trauma caused by anti-LGBTQ oppression. Also LGBTQ students were frequently being characterized in positivist anti-oppression research as one-dimensional victims who were not exercising any agency, while being told by lesbian and gay celebrities to tolerate unlivable conditions at their schools because a better life in a LGBTQ enclave awaits them. Disempowering research, the unlivable lives LGBTQ students are expected to endure in schools and the need for further queer feminist research into specifically queer and trans critical literacies served as the central motivations for the undertaking of this project. This research study focuses on the ways in which LGBTQ students have come to understand the relationships between reading novels, self-care, trauma, and the development of a queer critical literacy. Narrative inquiry, autoethnography, and creative analytic practices were the methodologies used in this project. The data for this research was collected using qualitative ii methods. The participants agreed to answer questions in a semi-structured interview and also wrote responses to a few reading journal questions after they had been interviewed. All of this qualitative data was analyzed using psychoanalytic, queer, post-structuralist, and integrative feminist theories. The author represented the insights and the process of this research study creatively in a synopsis of a proposed fictional graphic fantasy novel. Graphic novels and fantasy textual novels were prominent in the qualitative data which led the author to choose those forms for a proposed fictional story. This thesis worked to reveal insights about reading and self-care for LGBTQ students through both conventional qualitative research methods and by proposing a creative representation of the research while looking toward developing a queer world making project based on the findings of the entire project. iii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I want to express my thanks and gratitude to the research participants (Phi, Tau, Upsilon, & Omega) for being generous and thoughtfully taking the time to discuss these issues and share their experiences of reading with me. I am quite fortunate to have had these conversations and correspondences with such caring and intellectual people, thank you very much for all that you did. I am very grateful to have had Dr. Heather Sykes as my supervisor throughout the process of completing this degree. She is very patient, always willing to help, and provides incredibly thorough feedback. Dr. Sykes has encouraged me when I felt lost and frustrated, continually asked me inspiring questions, provided wonderful opportunities for my development as an academic, and created a community for her students in the thesis writing group. She supported and encouraged me to create a research project that aimed to be radical, unique, and richly insightful. I would not have thought this research project was possible at OISE without the guidance of someone with her exemplary qualities. Dr. Tara Goldstein was also a guiding light for me during this research project through her compassionate mentorship and practical advising. She has done so much innovative research about marginalization in schools and is another academic whom I consider myself fortunate to have been mentored by. Her generosity and personable manner were calming and reassuring during some of the most stressful parts of drafting this thesis. Dr. Goldstein’s warm-hearted and considerate guidance helped me see more of both the bigger picture and the smaller details of this research project. Dr. Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández, offered his attentive guidance, asked me profound philosophical questions, and encouraged me to stay creative with regard to my thinking and methods. Dr. Gaztambide-Fernández has always been a very engaged mentor who encouraged me to challenge myself further while considering other very important angles of the issues I explored in this research project. I am thankful for his particular style of mentoring. I also want to thank Dr. Chloë Brushwood-Rose, the external reader, an innovative scholar whose queer and psychoanalytic work in narrative inquiry and curriculum studies laid the iv foundations for research projects such as this thesis. I feel honored that she agreed to be the external examiner of my thesis. I am thankful for the very conscientious, deeply profound, and engaging approach she took in her appraisal and the subsequent defense discussions we had. Dr. Brushwood-Rose’s approach made our discussion memorable and generative. I thank Dr. Rob Simon for the very thoughtful and attentive commentary and questioning he brought to the defense discussions as the internal-external reader of my thesis. It’s always inspiring for me to have conversations with scholars who take comic books seriously. I also want to thank Dr. Mari Ruti for her guidance and support. I learned so much from her in the Sexual Diversity Studies introductory course and her writing is always an inspiration. I thank my mother (Vittoria), father (Greg), and brother (Adam) for all their love and support throughout my various academic journeys. There were many times when I doubted whether I could do this or when I was frustrated with myself and my parents encouraged me to take care of myself, have faith in myself and keep my hope alive. My mother told me she wanted to see the day when I would complete this research and graduate with a PhD. My parents never had the opportunity to attend university and knew that I had stopped liking school when I was adolescent. With that in mind, I realized how seeing me complete this research project has been just as important to them as it has been to me. I have accomplished everything that I have because of their love for me. My parents, my brother, Grandpa (Basil J.) Lloyd and Nonna (Maria Bertucci) have all been in my heart throughout this research. The queer and trans people who have taken their own lives or who have been murdered have also been in my heart throughout this research project. I have tried to honor their memory in this thesis by following this research question, constructing a blueprint for a queer world making project, and continuing to work for social change. To conclude I thank all my friends from OISE especially Satoko Itani, Susan Diane, Shawna Carroll, Donna Kakonge, Syeda Rufeeda Bukhari, and Roger Bernardes. I want to thank everyone who has been in the Mittens Crew for being the wonderful, caring supportive people they are. Every Mittens Crew meeting and writing intensive was like a great episode of “The Golden Girls”, thanks for that crew! Finally, I want to thank some of the wonderful staff members at OISE and University of Toronto especially Danny Cavanagh, Janice Abdul- v Jabbar, Amanda Wagner, and Michelle Pon, who have always been helpful and friendly throughout my time at OISE. vi Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ xii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. xiii List of Appendices ....................................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 1.1 Oppressive Lessons for Queer Students ..............................................................................1 1.2 Plan of Study ........................................................................................................................3 1.3 Rationale ..............................................................................................................................4 1.4 Damage Centered Research .................................................................................................5 1.4.1 Unlivable Lives ........................................................................................................5 1.4.2 Children in Narratives of Gender .............................................................................7 1.5 Defining Key Terms and Summary ...................................................................................14

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