DOCUMENT RESUME ED 445 339 CS 217 250 AUTHOR Spurlin, William J., Ed. TITLE Lesbian and Gay Studies and the Teaching of English: Positions, Pedagogies, and Cultural Politics. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, IL. ISBN ISBN-0-8141-2794-0 PUB DATE 2000-00-00 NOTE 357p. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 27940-3050: $27.95 members, $33.95 nonmembers). Tel. No. 1-800-369-6283; website'http: / /www.ncte.org. PUB TYPE Books (010) Collected Works General (020) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC15 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Classroom Techniques; *Cultural Context; Elementary Secondary Education; *English Curriculum; *English Instruction; Higher Education; Homophobia; *Homosexuality; Political Issues; *Sexual Identity; *Writing Instruction IDENTIFIERS *Gay and Lesbian Studies; Homosexual Literature; Lesbian Literature; Queer Theory; Shakespeare (William) ABSTRACT This international collection of essays presents a contemporary overview of issues of sexual identity as they relate to teaching and learning in English from elementary through university levels. Coming from teachers in classrooms in India to North America to South Africa to Europe, the essays theorize lesbian, gay, and transgendered positions in the classroom, offer pedagogical strategies for teaching lesbian and gay studies, and examine the broader social and political contexts that shape classroom discourse and practices. Following the introduction by the editor, the 16 essays are: (1) "Cruising the Libraries" (Lee Lynch); (2) "When the Cave Is a Closet: Pedagogies of the (Re)Pressed" (Edward J. Ingebretsen, S.J.); (3) "Blame It on the Weatherman: Popular Culture and Pedagogical Praxis in the Lesbian and Gay Studies Classroom" (Jay Kent Lorenz); (4) "On Not Coming Out: or, Reimagining Limits" (Susan Talburt);(5) "(Trans)Gendering English Studies" (Jody Norton); (6) "The Uses of History" (Lillian Faderman); (7) "'What's Out There?' Gay and Lesbian Literature for Children and Young Adults" (Claudia Mitchell); (8) "Creating a Place for Lesbian and Gay Readings in Secondary English Classrooms" (Jim Reese); (9) "Shakespeare's Sexuality: Who Needs It?" (Mario DiGangi);(10) "Coming Out and Creating Queer Awareness in the Classroom: An Approach from the U.S.-Mexican Border" (tatiana de la tierra); (11) "'Swimming Upstream': Recovering the Lesbian in Native American Literature" (Karen Lee Osborne); (12) "Reading Gender, Reading Sexualities: Children and the Negotiation of Meaning in 'Alternative' Texts" (Debbie Epstein); (13) "Fault Lines in the Contact Zone: Assessing Homophobic Student Writing" (Richard E. Miller);(14) "Queer Pedagogy and Social Change: Teaching and Lesbian Identity in South Africa" (Ann Smith); (15) "The Straight Path to Postcolonial Salvation: Heterosexism and the Teaching of English in India Today" (Ruth Vanita); and (16) "Rememorating: Quilt Readings" (Marcia Blumberg). (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Nyr5 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 mer 0 4\ IMP U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NIP Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy a '' gj g p p 1 0 LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES AND THE TEACHING OFENGLISH 3 EDITORIAL BOARD:Jacqueline Bryant, Kermit Campbell, Xin Liu Gale, Sarah Hudelson, Gerald R. Og lan, Helen Poole, Jackie Swensson, Gail Wood, Faith Z. Schullstrom, Chair, ex officio, Michael Greer and Zarina Hock, ex officio Lesbian and Gay Studies and the Teaching of English Positions, Pedagogies, and Cultural Politics Edited by WILLIAM J. SPURLIN Cardiff University, Wales, United Kingdom National Council of Teachers of English 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096 Staff Editor: Bonny Graham Interior Design: Jenny Jensen Greenleaf Cover Design: Evelyn C. Shapiro NCTE Stock Number: 27940-3050 ©2000 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any infor- mation storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teach- ing of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lesbian and gay studies and the teaching of English: positions, pedagogies, and cultural politics/edited by William J. Spur lin. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8141-2794-0 (pbk.) 1. English philologyStudy and teaching. 2. English philology Study and teachingPolitical aspects. 3. Homosexuality and literatureStudy and teaching. 4. Gays' writingsStudy and teaching. 5. HomosexualityStudy and teaching. 6. Gay and lesbian studies. 7. Lesbians in literature. 8. Gay men in literature. I. Spur lin, William J., 1954 PE66.L45 2000 420'.71dc21 00-030567 For David, again 7 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix PERMISSIONS xi INTRODUCTION: QUEER STUDIES/ENGLISH STUDIES Xiii William J. Spur lin I Positions 1 Cruising the Libraries Lee Lynch 3 2 When the Cave Is a Closet: Pedagogies of the (Re)Pressed Edward J. Ingebretsen, S.J. 14 3 Blame It on the Weatherman: Popular Culture and Pedagogical Praxis in the Lesbian and Gay Studies Classroom Jay Kent Lorenz 36 4 On Not Coming Out: or, Reimagining Limits Susan Talburt 54 5 (Trans)Gendering English Studies Jody Norton 79 II Pedagogies 6 The Uses of History Lillian Faderman 109 7 "What's Out There?" Gay and Lesbian Literature for Children and Young Adults Claudia Mitchell 112 8 Creating a Place for Lesbian and Gay Readings in Secondary English Classrooms Jim Reese 131 vii Contents 9 Shakespeare's Sexuality: Who Needs It? Mario DiGangi 147 10 Coming Out and Creating Queer Awareness in the Classroom: An Approach from the U.S.-Mexican Border tatiana de la tierra 168 11 "Swimming Upstream": Recovering the Lesbian in Native American Literature Karen Lee Osborne 191 III The Politics of Culture 12 Reading Gender, Reading Sexualities: Children and the Negotiation of Meaning in "Alternative" Texts Debbie Epstein 213 13 Fault Lines in the Contact Zone: Assessing Homophobic Student Writing Richard E. Miller 234 14 Queer Pedagogy and Social Change: Teaching and Lesbian Identity in South Africa Ann Smith 253 15 The Straight Path to Postcolonial Salvation: Heterosexism and the Teaching of English in India Today Ruth Vanita 272 16 Rememorating: Quilt Readings Marcia Blumberg 288 INDEX 311 EDITOR 321 CONTRIBUTORS 323 viii 9. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Iwould like to express my deepest gratitude to those without whom the successful completion of this book would not have been possible. I am most grateful for the wonderful support of the National Council of Teachers of English for soliciting this project and for encouraging its completion. The contributors of this volume and I are most honored to be part of NCTE's first lesbian and gay studies book title. I would like to also express heartfelt thanks and appreciation to those members of the NCTE Executive Committee who have vigilantly supported and con- tinue to espouse the greater visibility and awareness of lesbian and gay studies within the teaching of English across the levels of instruction. These individuals include NCTE Executive Director Faith Schullstrom; past, present, and future NCTE Presidents Carol Avery, Joan Naomi Steiner, Jerome C. Harste, Anne Ruggles Gere, and Leila Christenbury; and other members of the current Executive Committee, especially Nancy McCracken, Char leen Silva Delfino, Victor Villanueva, Jr., Kathy Egawa, and Dale Allender. I have been encouraged, both in my work in lesbian and gay studies and in putting together this collection, by the time spent with each of them in thoughtful conversation and in endless e-mail and written correspondence. This book would not be possible without the creation of a new forum at NCTE, the Gay and Straight EducatorsAssembly (GSEA, formerly AGLAIA), for which I served as program chair from 1994 to 1999. Several of the essays that appear here began as papers presented at GSEA sessions at NCTE'sAnnual Con- vention and were subsequently revised for publication in this col- lection. I mention this because I did not want to lose the important connection to those early sessions at NCTE conventions that pro- vided a space in which to seriously address and theorize same- sex desire, queer difference(s), the teaching oflesbian and gay 1 u Acknowledgments authors, homophobic student writing, lesbian and gay narratives of the Holocaust, the psychic violences directed toward gender- atypical children, and other related queer issues and struggles in relation to the teaching of English, not only in the United States but in non-Euramerican locations, and not only in university class- rooms but in elementary language arts and secondary English classrooms as well. I would like to give special thanksto my wonderful colleagues in GSEA, including Roxanne Henkin, with whom I now co-chair the NCTE Advisory Committeeon Les- bian, Gay, and Bisexual Issues, Debra Goodman, Mary Bixby, Rose Casement, Jim Sullivan, Marcy Rayher, and Hannah Fur- row. Early versions of the essays written by Marcia Blumberg, Claudia Mitchell, Karen Lee Osborne, Jim Reese, and Ann Smith were originally given as papers at GSEA sessions, and I am most grateful for their contributions in helping to openup lesbian and gay studies as a viable site of inquiry at NCTE.