My thesis seeks to examine the relationship that exists between queer selfidentification and heterosexual hegemonic/heteronormative power in three works of and about the AIDS era. Working from feminist and queer theory perspectives, I first chart the way in which a problematic identity—be that identity a non-identity of utter invisibility, a sick identity, a dangerous identity, or (most commonly) an identity of utter hedonism disconnected from any notions of attachment, affection, or love beyond the physical sexual act—has been and is still wholly adopted by some. I do this principally with a close reading of Renaud Camus' 1981 novel Tricks, as well as with substantial historical grounding. I assert that this is not just a problem in queer literature, but in queer life which queer literature deeply reflects. Through a close reading of Tony Kushner's play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, I seek to illustrate the consequences of accepting entirely and without question a constructed and problematic identity for gay men. Historical examination also comes strongly into play through correspondence and personal narratives of men who lived through (and died in) the AIDS era, casualties of war of queer self-definition. Employing a close literary analysis of Larry Duplechan's 1986 novel Blackbird, my thesis seeks to chart a way to a stable, holistic, queer identity negotiated from a position of strength. In a larger sense my thesis explicates constraints upon queer identity intended to limit queer people to a heteronomous, damaged, vulnerable social position. I raise awareness of these constraints in attempt to navigate a way around them with the ultimate destination of this navigation being a perpetually increasing humanization of a historically and institutionally dehumanized population.

Prior to attacking a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas, Patrick Crusius posted a manifesto on the notorious 8chan website in which he justifies his attack as a self-defensive response to the “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” While this manifesto certainly contains the irrationality necessary to justify mass murder, it also repeats and reinforces language and worldviews present in public discourse, especially in discourse from white nationalists. Analyzing the Crusius manifesto in context of this white nationalist public discourse reveals how language used and worldviews perpetuated by white nationalists ultimately construct an apocalyptic meta-narrative that transforms immigrants and refugees into dangerous invaders. By repeatedly telling stories that frame immigrants or refugees as criminals, invaders, and terrorists, white nationalists have constructed a meta-narrative that subsumes localized narratives, which means that any story about an immigrant seeking refuge in the United States becomes a story of an invader and criminal. Crusius repeats and reinforces this meta-narrative in his manifesto, drawing on the foundational white-nationalist French scholar Renaud Camus, whose “Great Replacement” theory claims that non-white populations are systematically replacing white populations, leading to a “white genocide.” Ultimately, the apocalypse in this meta-narrative is not a violent, devastating end to the United States, but rather the end of a structure dominated by whiteness and Western culture. It’s this perceived apocalypse that inspires Crusius’ violent response. Ultimately, this meta-narrative capitalizes on fear to transform genuine love of nation into a volatile xenophobia that can encourage a perceived need for violent self-defense. On the scholarly front, this research may reinforce the suggestion of scholar Dana Cloud, who claims that scholars and rhetors cannot challenge white nationalist irrationality with a rational approach, but rather with localized narratives that ground the experiences of immigrants and refugees in concrete details that foster empathy and understanding.

L’imaginaire social français est aujourd’hui dominé par une peur lancinante. Au début du XXIe siècle, les angoisses démographiques et culturelles entretenues par une partie des intellectuels trouvent de nouvelles assises dans la popularisation de la fantasmatique du « grand remplacement », un scénario conspirationniste qui annonce un changement de population sur le territoire français où une civilisation orientale prend peu à peu la place des « idéaux occidentaux ». La littérature a la particularité de mettre en récit des représentations et des débats précis qui circulent dans l’imaginaire social. Cette étude évalue le travail d’invention spécifique à la littérature produit dans trois romans – L’Épuisant désir de ces choses de Renaud Camus, Petit frère d’Éric Zemmour et Soumission de Michel Houellebecq – qui créent, modifient et reconfigurent cette fantasmatique. Ces textes décrivent et anticipent la fin de la Ve République telle qu’elle est aujourd’hui connue, mais de façons différentes. Pour des raisons ethniques, civiques ou métaphysiques, ils laissent entendre que désormais « la France, c’est les autres! ». / A haunting fear pervades the French social imaginary. In the early twenty-first century the demographic and cultural anxieties of certain intellectuals took root in the popularization of the "great replacement" phantasmatic ; a scenario that announced changes in the populations of French territories, a conspiracy that would lead to Eastern culture eventually replacing "occidental ideals". Literature makes it possible for representations and precise debates circulating in the social imaginary to come alive through storytelling. The present study will evaluate the invention work, specific to literature, that was produced in Renaud Camus's L’Épuisant désir de ces choses, Éric Zemmour's Petit frère and Michel Houellebecq's Soumission. The novels in question create, alter, and reconfigure, albeit in different ways, this phantasmatic, describing and anticipating the end of the Fifth Republic as it is known today. Be it for ethnic, civic, or metaphysical reasons, they suggest that, henceforth, "la France, c'est les autres!".