The other Other: black homosexuality in white heterosexual nation

Abstract

Discourses of nationhood and nation-building has typically tried to render homosexuality totally silent, as reflected in the long-standing stigma of homosexuality's "unspeakable-ness." Despite the rapidly growing field of gay criticism, Nelson (1992), for instance, lamented at the white-biased gay/lesbian scholarships. According to him, acknowledgement of the existence of gay/lesbian writers of color hardly existed and believes that this raised several questions about issues of race, gender, and class in the community at large. Thus the study into works of colored gay writers will, in his words, "offer challenges to ethnic as well as mainstream homophobia, to straight, as well as queer racism" (1992: xiv). This paper intends to re-read a selection of Langston Hughes' works using the Gay Theory, particularly in relation to gender and sexuality. The aim is to look at how his poems may be interpreted to reflect the homoerotic dimension in literature. In doing so, the writer will identify interpretations of this works where one can find a codified gay aesthetic coming through apparently heterosexual texts. In doing so, one may discover perceptions which expose reflections of his life and explorations of issues critical to his survival, such as the many forms of exclusion and defilement the African American gays experience in their daily lives. Through analyzing Hughe's poetry in their context of publications, the paper hopes to reflect the persistence of colored gay writers in making their voices heard despite the marginalization of gay men and lesbians of color in a predominantly white heterosexual America.