Imaginative Resistance, Queer Fiction and the Law: Same-Sex Desire and the Good Life in Heteronormative Orders

Queer well-being is studied from psychological perspectives, but heteronormativity also affects it in more intangible ways. This book argues that heteronormativity shackles the imagination, limiting the imaginative reach of authors of queer fiction and our ability to imagine personal futures in which same-sex intimacy is brought to bear on our well-being. It reworks the concept of 'imaginative resistance' and makes contributions to queer literary history, criticism, and biography.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 31 May 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This book develops a novel account of how heteronormative sociolegal orders undermine the well-being of same-sex attracted people, even when these normative orders may fall short of coercively interfering with their choices. Queer well-being is generally studied from psychological perspectives, through the concept of 'minority stress.' Taking four texts of mid-century Anglo-American queer fiction as illustrative case studies, this book argues – in a philosophical rather than a psychological register – that heteronormativity also affects queer well-being in more intangible ways. The central claim is that heteronormativity shackles the imagination: it curtails no less the imaginative reach of authors of queer fiction, than our ability – engaged as we are in projects of self-authorship – to make-believe personal futures in which same-sex intimacy is brought to bear on our well-being. The book's central claim reworks a concept central to the philosophy of fiction – 'imaginative resistance' – and puts it into service of questions raised in moral philosophy. Apart from its political and normative implications – strengthening the case for at least some global gay rights – and from challenging some of queer theory's orthodoxies, the book also makes contributions to queer literary history, criticism, and biography. Drawing on archival material and personal interviews, fresh readings are offered of Charles Jackson's The Fall of Valor (1946), Gillian Freeman's The Leather Boys (1961), and Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt (1952) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), making a case for their inclusion in the queer literary canon.

This book develops a novel account of how heteronormative sociolegal orders undermine the well-being of same-sex attracted people, even when these normative orders may fall short of coercively interfering with their choices. Queer well-being is generally studied from psychological perspectives, through the concept of 'minority stress.' Taking four texts of mid-century Anglo-American queer fiction as illustrative case studies, this book argues – in a philosophical rather than a psychological register – that heteronormativity also affects queer well-being in more intangible ways. The central claim is that heteronormativity shackles the imagination: it curtails no less the imaginative reach of authors of queer fiction, than our ability – engaged as we are in projects of self-authorship – to make-believe personal futures in which same-sex intimacy is brought to bear on our well-being. The book's central claim reworks a concept central to the philosophy of fiction – 'imaginative resistance' – and puts it into service of questions raised in moral philosophy. Apart from its political and normative implications – strengthening the case for at least some global gay rights – and from challenging some of queer theory's orthodoxies, the book also makes contributions to queer literary history, criticism, and biography. Drawing on archival material and personal interviews, fresh readings are offered of Charles Jackson's The Fall of Valor (1946), Gillian Freeman's The Leather Boys (1961), and Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt (1952) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), making a case for their inclusion in the queer literary canon.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032037509