Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

9-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

English

Advisor

David Reynolds

Committee Members

Wayne Koestenbaum

Steven Kruger

Subject Categories

American Literature | Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies | Literature in English, North America | Queer Studies | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Keywords

American Literature, Poetics, Queer Theory, Philosophy of Religion, Gay and Lesbian Studies

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to play with the similarity between the queer and the mystical, and in the process, defines something I call “queer mysticism.” I include four cardinal figures of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American poetry: Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, and Robert Duncan. Beginning with Walt Whitman, I show how each of these poets bear witness to an experience of the divine that is both immanent and immanently queer. Through historical and biographical research, I uncover their poetic inspiration in popular modes of expression and in the esoteric and arcane. By establishing a connection with a few Catholic mystics from medieval and early modern period, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and Hadewijch, I argue that queer mysticism can help us understand how each of these four writers came to terms with sexuality in their poetry. Foundational to the theory of queer mysticism is Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy of immanence and his concept of schizo-analysis that emerged from his vision of psychoanalysis formed with Félix Guattari. I also find that queer mysticism finds an affinity the “anti-relational” thesis in queer theory. In the end, my dissertation provides a foundation for further research in gender studies, literary analysis, and historicist research.

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