Same Old: Queer Theory, Literature and the Politics of Sameness

Same old challenges the assumption that ideas related to 'sameness only thwart and stymie queer forms of life, revealing their unexpected formal and thematic importance to a range of queer literary genres. It interrogates the genealogy of the aversion to sameness that has kept these frameworks in place.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 07 June 2022
Publisher: Manchester University Press

Same old offers a groundbreaking reevaluation of perspectives that have shaped queer theory since its inception in the early 1990s. Rooted in philosophical and political commitments to "difference," queer theoretical frameworks have traditionally assumed that notions associated with "sameness" only hinder and impede queer forms of life. However, this book delves into a selection of these ideas, including "uselessness," "reproduction," "normativity," and "reductionism," and uncovers their surprising formal and thematic significance across a diverse range of queer literary genres spanning the long twentieth century. From the fin-de-siècle aestheticism to feminist speculative fiction, lesbian middlebrow writing, and the "stud file or record of serial sex," Same old challenges the very foundations of the aversion to sameness that has maintained these frameworks in place. By interrogating the genealogy of this aversion, the book offers a fresh and thought-provoking perspective on the complexities of queer cultural expression and its relationship to broader societal norms and expectations.

Weight: 296g
Dimension: 154 x 217 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526163813