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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Other Protestant & Nonconformist Churches > General
Though the terms "queer" and "Mennonite" rarely come into
theoretical or cultural contact, over the last several decades
writers and scholars in the United States and Canada have built a
body of queer Mennonite literature that shifts these identities
into conversation. In this volume, Daniel Shank Cruz brings this
growing genre into a critical focus, bridging the gaps between
queer theory, literary criticism, and Mennonite literature. Cruz
focuses his analysis on recent Mennonite-authored literary texts
that espouse queer theoretical principles, including Christina
Penner's Widows of Hamilton House, Wes Funk's Wes Side Story, and
Sofia Samatar's Tender. These works argue for the existence of a
"queer Mennonite" identity on the basis of shared values: a
commitment to social justice, a rejection of binaries, the
importance of creative approaches to conflict resolution, and the
practice of mutual aid, especially in resisting oppression. Through
his analysis, Cruz encourages those engaging with both Mennonite
and queer literary criticism to explore the opportunity for
conversation and overlap between the two fields. By arguing for
engagement between these two identities and highlighting the
aspects of Mennonitism that are inherently "queer," Cruz gives
much-needed attention to an emerging subfield of Mennonite
literature. This volume makes a new and important intervention into
the fields of queer theory, literary studies, Mennonite studies,
and religious studies.
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