Representations of Rural LGBTQIA Youth in Young Adult Literature

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Representations and Reflections of LGBTQIA and Nonbinary Identities

Abstract

Narratives of flight from rural to urban areas predominate in research related to LGBTQIA communities. Thus, rural LGBTQIA young people rarely see representations of themselves or their environments, especially positive portrayals. Such representations are important in that they are productive of identities, not just reflective of them. This study examines a collection of young adult literature with LGBTQIA characters and rural settings, analyzing the portrayals of place (rurality) and identity (LGBTQIA). In this paper I will demonstrate how current LGBTQIA young adult literature reinforces dominant narratives that privilege urbanity and I assert that counternarratives to the rural flight story are needed. Such counternarratives can help rural LGBTQIA young people envision new possibilities for themselves and their communities.

Author

• Michelle L. Page, University of Minnesota - Morris