Heterotopic Potential of Darkness
Exploration and Experimentation of Queer Space in Sarah Waters’s Neo-Victorian Trilogy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20249120 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Akira Suwa (0000-0003-1294-3068, Ritsumeikan University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 5 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Humanities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2076-0787 • E-ISSN: 2076-0787 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/h11010005 |
| OpenAlex | W4226393964 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 15 |
This article argues that darkness contributes to the creation of, and expands the concept of, heterotopias. In Sarah Waters’s neo-Victorian trilogy, consisting of Tipping the Velvet (1998), Affinity (1999), and Fingersmith (2002), her characters utilize darkness as their queer heterotopic space in order to call into question dominant heteronormative ideologies. Darkness plays an important role at the inception of the characters’ romantic relationships by facilitating space that allows their non-normative feelings to be expressed, thereby bringing queer desire to the forefront of each narrative. Darkness is a critical factor that renders a space heterotopic, as it blurs the boundary between heteronormative and queer, hence allowing transgression of the characters within Waters’s novels. Within queer heterotopic space created out of the darkness, there is a confluence of opposing values that enables the characters to examine the possibility of transcending heteronormativity and envisioning queer futures
Aesthetics · Ambivalence · Art · Heteronormativity · Literature · Narrative · Psychoanalysis · Queer · Queer theory · Romance · Sociology · Trilogy · Crime and Detective Fiction Studies · Gender Studies · Psychology · Spatial and Cultural Studies
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |