Queering the "Affective Ordinariness of Whiteness" in English Literary Curriculums

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Queer-Inhumanisms: Unsettling the Legacies of "Man" Across the Curriculum

Abstract

Objectives or purposes

This paper draws from a research project conducted in the United Kingdom. The project examines the required or ‘set’ curricular texts of English literature from four national secondary exam boards in conversation with similar studies conducted in Australia and North America. I argue that although there have been nods to diversify the English curriculum, currently the list of authors remains overwhelmingly white cis-hetero-male across these geographies. And the overview of the plots of set texts reveal a similar pattern of whiteness and cis-heteronormativity upheld under the banner of the literary canon. I think with affect theory, intersectional analysis, and queer literary theory to critique how the “affective ordinariness of whiteness” (Cefai, 2018, p. 127) circulates within English literature curricula. I draw from queer inhumanist theories (Chen, 2012; Muñoz, 2015; Panelist, 2019) and Sylvia Wynter’s (2015) Homo Narrans to push toward an approach to English literature that refuses the affective ordinariness of cis-hetero whiteness through centering Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous and People of Colour’s (QT&BIPOC) stories and texts.

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework

Queer cultural theorist Cefai (2018) describes how whiteness and cis-heteronormativity operate as the basis of an inclusive society in countries such as Canada, Australia, the UK and USA, in which ‘others’ are invited to become included, or assimilated. This affective cis-hetero whiteness circulates through and sticks to the field of English literature and what is upheld as ‘the canon.’ Following Sara Ahmed (2007, 2008), I argue that literature education must recognize that there’s a politics to how we distribute our literary attention. Black literary theorist Wynter (2015) puts forth the notion of Homo Narrans to explain how in her view, the human brain developed biologically in conjunction with language and storytelling. For Wynter, this means that as a species we are not merely produced through biology, but also produced through the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we prioritize. Following Wynter, the project focused on storytelling as a worlding practice and investigated the dominant narratives/voices/themes taught in secondary English in Grades 10-11.

Methods

The study included policy analysis of exam board material, textual analysis of literary texts, and socio-cultural theorizing using queer theory, critical race theory and cultural studies.

Significance

Policy and textual analysis demonstrated a paucity of queer authors, and queer characters or themes; an overrepresentation of cis-hetero male authors and characters; and an overrepresentation of white characters and authors. Out of five exam boards in the UK Jeanette Winterson was the only queer author represented. Further, textual analysis demonstrated that even texts like To Kill a Mockingbird, which are frequently touted as tackling racial inequalities, still re-center whiteness. I read my findings through similar studies conducted in Australia and Canada (Bates, 2017) and find a global trend in upholding ‘Man’ as the subject of English, despite ongoing calls for unsettling the canon.

As a response to these findings I have conducted a second literature review and developed a pilot study centering QT&BIPOC literary texts in the secondary English classroom. Initial findings will be discussed.

Author

• Sarah E. Truman, University of Melbourne