Carson Mccullough, Queer Theory Interpretation Of The Novel

As one of the most prominent novelists in twentieth century’s American, CarsonMcCullers，with her vivid description and intriguing narration, is famous for the portraitof the freak and the queer. Among the impressive literary legacy she left behind, fournovels are highly reviewed by the literary community. These are Reflections in a GoldenEye, The Member of the Wedding, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and The Ballad of theSad Café.In McCullers’ novels, main characters are mainly described as gender outlaws andsexual outlaws, including cross-dressers, transsexuals, homosexuals, as well asbisexuals. The thesis attempts to redefine the four representative novels of CarsonMcCullers from the perspective of the queer theory criticism, along with the history ofthe south of America. There are three chapters in total: Chapter One is a briefintroduction of queer theory and the next two chapters are the main parts of the thesis,in which transgenders, homosexuals and bisexuals in the novels are analyzed via queertheory.By expounding the instability of gender and the diversity of sexual orientationpresented in the novels, the thesis intends to explore the ambivalence of the queers inthose novels who yield to or fight against the mainstream social rules in theheterosexual hegemony and patriarchal society.