MASARYK UNIVERSITY Coming out in the Novels Of
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MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature Coming Out in the Novels of Aciman and Albertalli Bachelor Thesis Brno 2020 Supervisor: Mgr. Jiří Šalamoun, Ph.D. Author: Lucie Kopřivová Anotace Práce je zaměřená na sexuální identitu a takzvaný "coming-outu" u mladých lidí. Změřuje se zejména na postavy vyobrazené v knihách "Probuzení Simona Spiera" a "Dej mi své jméno". Zjistíme take vice o coming outu jako takovém a o některých aspektech života LGBTQ+ komunity. Hlavní otázkou práce ja jek se liší prožití toho, když hrdina projde coming outem a když to o něm zjistí ostatní a jak to změní jejich život. Abstract The focus of the thesis is the sexual identity and so called coming out amongst queer youth, specifically as it is depicted in the novels "Simon vs. The Homosapiens Agenda" and "Call Me by Your Name". The thesis will also cover the basic principles of coming out and some aspects of life as a LGBTQ+ member. The underlining question we are trying to answer is. How does the experience of being discovered or coming out as queer in the two novels differ and how does it change the life of the protagonist. Klíčová slova Gay, Dej mi své jméno, Probuzení Simona Spiera, Elio, Blue, Oliver, probuzení, Blue Keywords Gay, LGBTQ, Homosexual, Elio, Oliver, Simon, Novel, Queer, call me by your name, Simon vs the homosapiens agenda, coming out Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů." Declaration I declare that I worked independently on this Bachelor thesis, with only using resources, other information and sources in agreement with the Disciplinary rules for students of the Faculty of Education of the Masaryk University, and with the act No. 121/2000 Sb., on the Copyright Act, on Rights related to Copyright Act and on Amendment of Certain Acts (the Copyright Act), as amended. In Brno, 2020 Lucie Kopřivová Acknowledgments Here I would like to thank Mgr. Jin Salamoun, Ph.D. for suffering through this ordeal that was my Bachelor thesis and being such a nice and amazing teacher as he was during my studies. Contents 1. Introduction 6 2. Theoretical Part 7 2.1. What is a YA novel? 7 2.2. YA Gay-Novels 9 2.3. The Coming-out novel 11 2.4. Coming Out Results: Positive and Negative 12 2.5. Religion and LGBTQ+themes 13 2.6. Authors of books with LGBTQ+ themes (André Aciman and Becky Albertalli) 15 3. Practical Part 20 3.1. Coming out in "Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda" 20 3.2. Coming out in "Call Me by Your Name" 25 4. Conclusion 30 5. Sources 32 1. Introduction As a long-time supporter and ally of the LGBTQ+ community as well as a frequent consumer of YA novels there were times, I contemplated whether a good-quality novel of such genre would find its way to me. To my surprise, in the recent years, two books that meet such standards were released. One being "Simon vs. The Homosapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli while the other being "Call me by your name" by Andre Aciman. While they both deal with a similar base theme, that being the relationship of a same-sex couple from the perspective of a teenage non-experienced young man. There are some striking key differences in the books. In this thesis I will touch on these differences while also introducing the many similarities these two books imminently share. Amongst others these topics will include the importance of setting of the novels, both time and place-wise, the family's stand to the main character's sexuality, the process of accepting ones passionate feelings for another man, the complicated relationship between the main character and a close female character and most importantly the process of coming out, be it being forcibly outed or on the other hand not having to deal with such a process at all. There were many reasons why I was drawn to this topic. As a person with many friends in the LGBTQ+ community that does not belong to the community itself I feel a certain fascination but also a huge burden. While it is my priority to understand their experience, it will never be an entirely authentic one. These two books share a fascinating connection that was possibly one of the reasons why it was somewhat easier for me to relate to the stories and characters. Both the novels were written by straight adults that share the same passion for the cause as I do but know enough insider information about the topic from their professional work-fields that allows them to embody and then share these stories authentically. Which is a fascinating phenomenon in of itself. Can we dismiss or accept their authenticity solely based on the writer's gender and sexuality? In the theoretical part I will first explore what defines a YA novel than the history of a YA gay-novel itself, follow that by the phenomenon of coming out in such novels and end with the hardships the LGBTQ+ community had to go through historically but often still has to deal with today in regards to their acceptance in the public eye and the enormous toll the result of a coming-out has on many people's lives. 2. Theoretical Part 2.1. What is a YA novel? This chapter will introduce the history and definition of a YA novel and how it differs from a traditional novel. According to Jenkins (1998), coming-of-age stories have been a staple of western literature for centuries but "young adult" novels that were marketed as such started appearing only during 1940s and 1950s when teenagers emerged and became a distinct group of consumers at the time. The "Teenager" that we know today did not really exist and wasn't recognized until the post-Depression era. That does not mean that children simply skipped adolescence and went straight from childhood to adulthood before that. It only means that between 1940s and 1950s teenagers became a recognizable and important life-stage with its own fashion, music, needs and rituals. (Cosgrove, 2013) Simply enough teens started to have money to spend, and the advertising companies began to see them as a unique market opportunity. Marketers started studying their buying habits and created advertisement and products specifically catered to their demographic. Be it, fashion, music, magazines or books. (France, 2015) Historically speaking it is not surprising that a teenager was not a widely recognized life stage as in the past children were expected to work from a young age following which, girls married very early on and boys often enlisted in the military since there was always a war to fight. This technically created young boys and girls that were practically viewed as adults and did not leave any room left for them to experience the joys and challenges of their own adolescence since they were expected to deal with much bigger problems. Only later did the classic middle-class family appear. Having dealt with all the hardships themselves, raising their children blissful and ignorant. As a LIFE magazine article by Nina Leen from the year 1944 states: "Some 6,000,000 U.S. teen-age girls live in a world all their own — a lovely, gay, enthusiastic, funny and blissful society almost untouched by the war. It is a world of sweaters and skirts and bobby sox and loafers, of hair worn long, of eye-glass rims painted red with nail polish, of high school boys no yet gone to war. It is world still devoted to parents who are pals even if they use the telephone too much. It is a world of Vergil's Aeneid, second-year French and plane geometry, of class plays, field hockey, "moron" jokes and put-on accents. It is a world of slumber parties and the Hit Parade, of peanut butter and popcorn and the endless collecting of menus and match covers and little stuffed animals." Since the 1960s the label of young adult (YA) literature has been most commonly applied to fiction with a young adult protagonist that centers on the development and life- centered issues that are commonly associated with adolescence and is created and advertised specifically to a teenage audience. Teenage readers will read a variety of genres but there is a specific narrative form that is very strongly associated with YA fiction as a whole. A young adult novel involving contemporary social issues told from the perspective of a teen protagonist. These stories and novels are members of a sub-category of a YA novel referred to as "contemporary realism" or "problem novels". (Jenkins, 1998) Some of the pivotal titles of early YA literature in the 1960s were S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, Ann Head's Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones and Paul Zindel's The Pigman. As Jenkins (1998) states. These novels were characterized by unidealized characters and settings, plots that dealt with realistic problems and did not necessarily end with a happy ending. Which shows that these novels were indeed part of the so called "new realism". One of the most important ones would have to be The Outsiders. At a time when a novel typically read by the young adult audience was about as Hilton herself stated "Mary Jane went to prom." It was a breath of fresh air that a different kind of novel emerged.