1 Make This Real? AIDS and Terrorism in "Realist" Fiction from Reagan/Bush America Megan Paslawski Department of English McGill University, Montréal June 2009 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts in English © Megan Paslawski 2009 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l’édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-61615-4 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-61615-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L’auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l’Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L’auteur conserve la propriété du droit d’auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author’s permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n’y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 2 Abstract This thesis explores three novels published between 1990 and 1993 -- People in Trouble by Sarah Schulman, Afterlife by Paul Monette, and Tim and Pete by James Robert Baker -- that deal with AIDS as experienced by gay and lesbian characters in the United States. Their authors identified their work as social realism, but their plots include incidents of terrorism intended to protect people with HIV/AIDS from an oppressive society even though history records no such occurrence. "Make This Real?" understands these texts' claims to realism by reading them against a coeval activist discourse that compared "the AIDS crisis" to a war zone. It also examines the texts' use of fantasy and satire, which destabilizes the category of realism in a way similar to the books' metatextual analysis of the importance of art in a crisis. The thesis suggests that using terrorist imagery creates an emotional authenticity that assists the authors' activist attempts to undermine mainstream ideas of AIDS. 3 Résumé Ce mémoire analyse trois romans publiés entre 1990 et 1993, soit People in Trouble de Sarah Schulman, Afterlife de Paul Monette et Tim and Pete de James Robert Baker, qui abordent le sujet du sida tel que vécu par des personnages gais et lesbiens aux États-Unis. Les auteurs desdits romans ont affirmé ou identifié leurs œuvres comme représentant du réalisme social ou des vérités de la réalité contemporaine. L’intrigue des romans comprend toutefois des actes de terrorisme à l’encontre d’une société oppressive, lesquels ont pour but d’avancer le statut des personnes atteintes du sida. "Make this Real?" situe ces trois textes dans un discours d’activisme contemporain qui compare la "crise" du sida à une zone de guerre. Dans le mémoire, ce discours sert à élucider à quel point ces romans peuvent être perçus comme réalistes. Sont explorés également dans ce mémoire les liens qu’ont les textes avec des genres tels que la fantaisie et la satire, remettant ainsi en question la lecture de People in Trouble, Afterlife et Tim and Pete en tant que textes purement réalistes, un effet qui saurait également s’accomplir par une analyse métatextuelle de l’importance de l’art en période de crise. Au lieu d’argumenter que les textes sont strictement réalistes, ce mémoire suggère que les romans achèvent une authenticité émotionnelle par le biais d’imagerie terroriste qui soutient leurs efforts activistes pour ébranler les idées dominantes à propos du sida. 4 Table of Contents Abstract....................................................................................................................page 2 Résumé.....................................................................................................................page 3 Acknowledgments....................................................................................................page 5 Introduction..............................................................................................................page 6 Chapter One: How to Have Realism in an Epidemic...............................................page 14 an "epidemic of signification," realist fiction, and war imagery in AIDS activism Chapter Two: Avengers in America..........................................................................page 48 fantasy, satire, and the longing for heroes Chapter Three: Make This Real?..............................................................................page 82 the purpose and meaning of art in a crisis Conclusion................................................................................................................page 113 Works Cited..............................................................................................................page 118 5 Acknowledgments I never would have finished this project without the love and support of Lauren Baggett, who listened patiently to half-formed ideas, offered insight and assurance, and read drafts. This thesis is dedicated to her. I owe many thanks to my friends and every queer kid -- in all senses of the term -- I know. Their existence gave me permission to talk about queer communities even though no one quite knows what that means. As with the novels discussed in this thesis, the labels are uncertain but something remains that feels real. I especially need to thank Connor Friesen, who was generous with his research on AIDS narratives, and Ann Simonds, who shared her memories of New York in the 90s and her extensive knowledge of queer history and literature. She was the one who told me to read Sarah Schulman. Joseph Dubé and Asturia Fuica graciously translated the abstract into French. I also want to thank Dr. Miranda Hickman, who always had time to offer advice and encouragement when I distraughtly wandered into her office. Most of all, I am very grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Ken Borris. His enthusiasm, promptness, and kindness were as inspiring and as helpful as his wide knowledge and his keen editorial eye. Thank you. 6 Introduction Any project that purports to discuss realism should probably also demonstrate a grasp of reality. This proves difficult in an analysis of three novels -- Sarah Schulman's People in Trouble, Paul Monette's Afterlife, and James Robert Baker's Tim and Pete -- whose narratives unsettle conventional images of what AIDS meant to people in the US during the late 1980s and early 1990s. All three novels foreground gay and lesbian perspectives, frequently in opposition to what they represent as a straight or mainstream understanding of crisis. They also work against some popular conventions in writing about HIV/AIDS, particularly ones that evoke the imagery of "victims" or automatic death sentences. An analysis of their historical situation must acknowledge the novels' efforts to challenge some attempts to assign a definitive meaning to what they most commonly called the AIDS crisis or epidemic. Schulman's People in Trouble (1990) describes the early days of a New York City activist group that she modeled on the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). Monette's Afterlife (1990) and Baker's Tim and Pete (1993) both are set among circles of gay, mostly white male friends in Los Angeles, but Monette's L.A. is more privileged than Baker's. Tim and Pete sneers at Monette's social world – Monette's partner's brother is the subject of a character's lengthy diatribe against "Mr. West Hollywood" (148) – with nearly as much anger as it shows towards rightwing politicians. Despite the novels' disparate vantage points, all three understand AIDS to be intrinsically linked to questions of homophobia, governmental inaction, oppressive expressions of Christianity, and racism. They are also notable for bringing narratives about AIDS terrorism, which were otherwise confined to science fiction or fantasy, fringe gay presses, or small references in better-known works, to more mainstream audiences of literature. All three books feature the planned or committed killings of homophobic public figures in the name of 7 progress for people with AIDS and/or queer people. Through reference to real incidents of homo- and AIDSphobia, real death tolls, and actual governmental statements (or lack of statements) about AIDS, the novels explicitly tie their characters' belief in the utility of assassination to anger over the lack