" Compairing [sic] a girl to a summers day is gay” – Que(e)rying EFL learners’ engagement with Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 and contemporary YA fiction
This paper presents qualitative research findings from a literature-focused classroom project in which EFL (English as a foreign language) learners engage queerly with Shakespeare’s famous Sonnet 18 “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” and Patrick Ness’ young adult (YA) fiction narrative Differ...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidad Iberoamericana
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Educativos |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://rlee.ibero.mx/index.php/rlee/article/view/559 |
| Summary: | This paper presents qualitative research findings from a literature-focused classroom project in which EFL (English as a foreign language) learners engage queerly with Shakespeare’s famous Sonnet 18 “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” and Patrick Ness’ young adult (YA) fiction narrative Different for Boys. This project was carried out at a German secondary school (Gymnasium) with a year 11 upper-level class of advanced English. The central rationale of this project – informed by a theoretical basis of literary studies, EFL pedagogy, and queer theory – was to retrace how far the learning processes of students concerning these two texts may validate, irritate or dissipate heteronormative literary readings and interpretations, which are framed here as ‘hetero-normalization’. The results show that a queer focus can draw all learners into critical and committed literary interpretations – with each learner displaying highly individual negotiations located between upfront queer visibility and continued ‘hetero-normalization’.
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| ISSN: | 0185-1284 2448-878X |