Novel Gazing
Queer Readings in Fiction
📘 About This Book
Novel Gazing is the first collection of queer criticism on the history of the novel. The contributors to this volume navigate new territory in literary theory with essays that implicitly challenge the "hermeneutic of suspicion" widespread in current critical theory. In a stunning introductory essay, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick delineates the possibilities for a criticism that would be "reparative" rather than cynical or paranoid. The startlingly imaginative essays in the volume explore new critical practices that can weave the pleasures and disorientations of reading into the fabric of queer analyses. Through discussions of a diverse array of British, French, and American novels—including major canonical novels, best-sellers, children’s fiction, and science fiction—these essays explore queer worlds of taste, texture, joy, and ennui, focusing on such subjects as flogging, wizardry, exorcism, dance, Zionist desire, and Internet sexuality. Interpreting the works of authors as diverse as Benjamin Constant, Toni Morrison, T. H. White, and William Gibson, along with canonical queer modernists such as James, Proust, Woolf, and Cather, contributors reveal the wealth of ways in which selves and communities succeed in extracting sustenance from the objects of a culture whose avowed desire has often been not to sustain them. The dramatic reframing that these essays perform will make the significance of Novel Gazing extend beyond the scope of queer studies to literary criticism in general. Contributors. Stephen Barber, Renu Bora, Anne Chandler, James Creech, Tyler Curtain, Jonathan Goldberg, Joseph Litvak, Michael Lucey, Jeff Nunokawa, Cindy Patton, Jacob Press, Robert F. Reid-Pharr, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Melissa Solomon, Kathryn Bond Stockton, John Vincent, Maurice Wallace, Barry Weller
📖 Summary
Novel Gazing, edited by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and published in 1997, stands as a foundational and groundbreaking collection of queer literary criticism that explores the history of the novel. Spanning 530 pages, the volume gathers imaginative and diverse essays from various contributors who navigate entirely new territory in literary theory. At the heart of the collection is Sedgwick's stunning introductory essay, which challenges the dominant hermeneutic of suspicion that has long characterized contemporary critical theory. Instead of adopting a cynical or paranoid approach to reading and interpretation, Sedgwick delineates the rich possibilities for a critical practice that is distinctly reparative. The contributors build upon this vision by exploring how to weave the genuine pleasures, unexpected joys, and disorientations of reading directly into the fabric of sophisticated queer analyses. The essays assembled in this volume engage with a remarkably wide array of British, French, and American novels, demonstrating the expansive reach of queer critique. This eclectic selection encompasses major canonical works of literature, popular best-sellers, engaging children's fiction, and visionary science fiction. By looking across these different genres and historical periods, the writers uncover hidden queer worlds, subterranean emotional connections, and novel ways of experiencing text. The collection effectively transforms how readers and scholars alike approach literature, proving that queer criticism does not merely deconstruct texts through suspicion, but can also heal, nourish, and sustain its readers through reparative engagement.
🎯 Key Lessons
⚖️ Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
Groundbreaking perspective on queer literary criticism
Influential introductory essay by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
Diverse selection of texts ranging from canonical works to children's fiction
Encourages imaginative and reparative approaches to reading
⚠️ Cons
Can be dense and challenging for readers unfamiliar with literary theory
Academic tone may not appeal to casual fiction readers
❓ FAQ
Who edited Novel Gazing? +
The book was edited by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick.
When was Novel Gazing published? +
It was published in 1997.
What is the primary theoretical contribution of the introduction? +
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick introduces the concept of reparative reading as an alternative to the paranoid hermeneutic of suspicion.
What types of novels are discussed in the collection? +
The essays cover British, French, and American novels, including canonical works, best-sellers, children's fiction, and science fiction.
How many pages long is the book? +
The volume spans 530 pages.
