Abstract

MERSE, Thorsten  and  KONIG, Lotta. “Compairing [sic] a girl to a summers day is gay” - Que(e)rying EFL Learners’ Engagement with Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 and Contemporary YA Fiction. Rev. latinoam. estud. educ. [online]. 2023, vol.53, n.2, pp.135-173.  Epub Oct 02, 2023. ISSN 2448-878X.  https://doi.org/10.48102/rlee.2023.53.2.559.

This paper presents qualitative research findings from a literature-focused classroom project in which EFL (English as a foreign language) learners engage queerly with Shakespeare’s famous Sonnet 18 “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” and Patrick Ness’ young adult (YA) fiction narrative Different for Boys. This project was carried out at a German secondary school (Gymnasium) with a year 11 upper-level class of advanced English. The central rationale of this project - informed by a theoretical basis of literary studies, EFL pedagogy, and queer theory - was to retrace how far the learning processes of students concerning these two texts may validate, irritate or dissipate heteronormative literary readings and interpretations, which are framed here as ‘hetero-normalization’. The results show that a queer focus can draw all learners into critical and committed literary interpretations - with each learner displaying highly individual negotiations located between upfront queer visibility and continued ‘hetero-normalization’.

Keywords : hetero-normalization; Shakespeare; literature pedagogy; English as a foreign language; young adult fiction.