Queer Angels in Post-1945 American Literature and Culture: Bad Beatitudes

by David Deutsch

Overview

From Allen Ginsberg's 'angel-headed hipsters' to angelic outlaws in Essex Hemphill's Conditions, angelic imagery is pervasive in queer American art and culture. This book examines how the period after 1945 expanded a unique mixture of sacred and profane angelic imagery in American literature and culture to fashion queer characters, primarily gay men, as embodiments of 'bad beatitudes'.


Deutsch explores how authors across diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, including John Rechy, Richard Bruce Nugent, Allen Ginsberg, and Rabih Alameddine, sought to find the sacred in the profane and the profane in the sacred. Exploring how these writers used the trope of angelic outlaws to celebrate men who rebelled wilfully and nobly against religious, medical, legal and social repression in American society, this book sheds new light on dissent and queer identities in postmodern American literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350198975
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	07/29/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	568 KB

About the Author

David Deutsch is Associate Professor of English at the University of Alabama, USA.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Uncovering the Queer Angels in Our Midst
Chapter 1: John Rechy's Angelic Outlaws: Surviving the Desire for Salvation
Chapter 2: Richard Bruce Nugent's Angelic Erotics: Rebellious Spirits in Multi-Racial Same-Sex Romances
Chapter 3: Allen Ginsberg's Angelic Economies: Sex, Spirituality, and a Queer Anti-Imperialism
Chapter 4: Angels Amid Affliction: Angelic Immigrants and an Expansive Americanism in the Era of HIV/AIDS
Conclusion: Angelic Anxieties and Outlaw Expectations

Editorial Reviews

“Queer Angels performs an exciting reorientation of twentieth-century gay men's writing around the figure of the angel, highlighting how writers as different as Nugent, Rechy, Ginsberg, and Alameddine reconceive experiences of degradation as epiphanic, filled with grace and 'bad beatitude.'”” —Steven F. Kruger, Professor, Queens College and The Graduate Center, CUNY, U.S.

“David Deutsch's book is a heaven-sent addition to our deep knowledges of queer U.S. literature. Queer Angels in Post-WWII American Literature and Culture will be widely embraced by scholars invested in sexuality and gender studies and religious studies alike.” —Scott Herring, Professor of American Studies and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Yale University, USA

From the Publisher