" 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...
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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 |
| _version_ | 1797831307298865152 |
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| author | Thorsten Merse Lotta König |
| author_facet | Thorsten Merse Lotta König |
| author_sort | Thorsten Merse |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
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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| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:49:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-159acde541c149c4bae1033a84f767c0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0185-1284 2448-878X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:49:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Universidad Iberoamericana |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Educativos |
| spelling | doaj.art-159acde541c149c4bae1033a84f767c02023-05-08T19:17:53ZengUniversidad IberoamericanaRevista Latinoamericana de Estudios Educativos0185-12842448-878X2023-05-0153210.48102/rlee.2023.53.2.559" Compairing [sic] a girl to a summers day is gay” – Que(e)rying EFL learners’ engagement with Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 and contemporary YA fictionThorsten Merse0Lotta König1Universität Duisburg-EssenBielefeld University 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’. https://rlee.ibero.mx/index.php/rlee/article/view/559hetero-normalizationShakespeareliterature pedagogyEnglish as a foreign languageyoung adult fiction |
| spellingShingle | Thorsten Merse Lotta König " 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 Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Educativos hetero-normalization Shakespeare literature pedagogy English as a foreign language young adult fiction |
| title | " 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 |
| title_full | " 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 |
| title_fullStr | " 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 |
| title_full_unstemmed | " 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 |
| title_short | " 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 |
| title_sort | 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 |
| topic | hetero-normalization Shakespeare literature pedagogy English as a foreign language young adult fiction |
| url | https://rlee.ibero.mx/index.php/rlee/article/view/559 |
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