Introduction: Uncovering the Queer Angels in Our Midst -- John Rechy's Angelic Outlaws: Surviving the Desire for Salvation -- Richard Bruce Nugent's Angelic Erotics: Rebellious Spirits in Multi-Racial Same-Sex Romances -- Allen Ginsberg's Angelic Economies: Sex, Spirituality, and a Queer Anti-Imperialism -- Angels Amid Affliction: Angelic Immigrants and an Expansive Americanism in the Era of HIV/AIDS -- Conclusion: Angelic Anxieties and Outlaw Expectations.
Summary:
"From Allen Ginsberg's 'angel-headed hipsters' to angelic outlaws in Essex Hemphill's Conditions, angelic imagery is pervasive in queer American art and culture. This book examines how the period after 1945 expanded a unique mixture of sacred and profane angelic imagery in American literature and culture to fashion queer characters, primarily gay men, as embodiments of 'bad beatitudes'. Deutsch explores how authors across diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, including John Rechy, Richard Bruce Nugent, Allen Ginsberg, and Rabih Alameddine, sought to find the sacred in the profane and the profane in the sacred. Exploring how these writers used the trope of angelic outlaws to celebrate men who rebelled wilfully and nobly against religious, medical, legal and social repression in American society, this book sheds new light on dissent and queer identities in postmodern American literature." -- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.