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ETD Abstract Container

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Coming Out Films: Speech, Cinema, and The Making of Queer Subjects

Hunter, Sam
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9499-877X
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1562942471272232

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Arts, Miami University, English.
Coming out is widely understood as a crucial, repeated scene of a queer person making their queerness known to others. Rather than consider coming out in film as one specific cinematic moment, I argue that the means by which queerness is made legible to the spectator constitutes coming out, even if that coming out is preceded by an outing or occurs non-verbally. Engaging with the speech act theories of J.L. Austin and queer theories of Judith Butler, I trace the performative differences between coming out and outing speech acts in the films The Children’s Hour (1961) and Love, Simon (2018), arguing that outing creates an instable queer subject that must be made coherent through coming out. I also examine how the cinematic apparatus can either construct a closet or allow for non-verbal coming out in Brokeback Mountain (2005) and God’s Own Country (2017), creating a uniquely non-identitarian approach to coming out. The divergent endings met by queer characters in these four films further demonstrate how the process and aftermath of coming out play a role in narrative conclusion, establishing coming out as one of the most critically important aspects of a queer film.
Katie Johnson, Dr. (Advisor)
Elisabeth Hodges, Dr. (Committee Member)
Anita Mannur, Dr. (Committee Member)
59 p.
Film Studies
queer; queer theory; queer cinema; cinema studies; brokeback mountain; the childrens hour; gods own country; love, simon; subjectivity

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hunter, S. (2019). Coming Out Films: Speech, Cinema, and The Making of Queer Subjects [Master's thesis, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1562942471272232

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hunter, Sam. Coming Out Films: Speech, Cinema, and The Making of Queer Subjects. 2019. Miami University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1562942471272232.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hunter, Sam. "Coming Out Films: Speech, Cinema, and The Making of Queer Subjects." Master's thesis, Miami University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1562942471272232

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1562942471272232
56
© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.