Tracing the differences in the representation of ‘Queer’ identity found in few 20th and 21st Century novels

Abstract

This paper aims to trace how the representation of „queer‟ characters in literature has metamorphosed over 20th to 21st century as traced in the novels Anne of Green Gables, Nightwood, Crossing and Call Me By Your Name. The portrayal of „queer‟ in the aforementioned novels is binary opposite and this change is the result of several movements on queer rights. It took hundreds of years of protests and rebellions for bringing this change. This paper is a neo-historical approach for depicting the gradual process of the evolution in the representation of „queer‟ in literature over the century, thus it includes brief history of several „queer‟ movements. This paper also shows the contrast of „homosexuals in denial‟ to „sexually fluid‟ characters in the aforementioned novels.