" Compairing [sic] a girl to a summers day is gay” – Que(e)rying EFL learners’ engagement with Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 and contemporary YA fiction

• Published in: Revista latinoamericana de estudios educativos Vol. 53; no. 2; pp. 135 - 174
• Main Authors: Merse, Thorsten, König, Lotta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Obregón Centro de Estudio Educativos, A.C 01.08.2023; Universidad Iberoamericana
• Subjects: Classrooms; English as a foreign language; English as a second language; Fiction; Foreign language instruction; Foreign language learning; hetero-normalization; Heteronormativity; Literary studies; literature pedagogy; Pedagogy; Qualitative research; Reading; Shakespeare; Sonnets; Teaching; young adult fiction; Young adult literature
• ISSN: 0185-1284; 2448-878X
• DOI: 10.48102/rlee.2023.53.2.559

This paper presents qualitative research findings from a literature-focused classroom project in which EFL (English as a foreign language) learners engage queerly with Shakespeare’s famous Sonnet 18 “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” and Patrick Ness’ young adult (YA) fiction narrative Different for Boys. This project was carried out at a German secondary school (Gymnasium) with a year 11 upper-level class of advanced English. The central rationale of this project – informed by a theoretical basis of literary studies, EFL pedagogy, and queer theory – was to retrace how far the learning processes of students concerning these two texts may validate, irritate or dissipate heteronormative literary readings and interpretations, which are framed here as ‘hetero-normalization’. The results show that a queer focus can draw all learners into critical and committed literary interpretations – with each learner displaying highly individual negotiations located between upfront queer visibility and continued ‘hetero-normalization’.