I was inspired by "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller that explores the love between Achilles and Patroclus that was erased or ignored by many historians and adaptations of the story of Troy. It could be a very productive idea to discuss how reclamation of our erased stories can be empowering. Could also make an intersection with race and gender for parallel.
great topic! I think it would be prudent to be more explicit by what you mean in regards to "an intersection with race and gender for parallel." The "race/gender analogy" has been a point of contention in both critical race theory and feminist thought for some time, and so one should tread lightly on what it means to intersect and compare these categories. If that part of your topic is tackled, I think it would be important to investigate prominent texts where similar endeavors are present; Simone De Beauvoir's "The Second Sex," for example, as well as the following works critiquing it: Kathryn Gines' "Sartre, Beauvoir, and the Race/Gender Analogy: A Case for Black Feminist Philosophy" as well as Elizabeth Spelman's "Gender and Race: The Ampersand Problem in Feminist Thought" – ees6 years ago
Relevant and timely topic for sure; the writer should definitely pursue intersectionality as part of this. – Stephanie M.6 years ago
I think it's possible to explore a general parallel between race, gender, and sexuality (or sexual orientation or sexual identity or whatever we want to call it) without getting overly bogged down in theory. ees is correct, of course, in noting that those parallels are a point of contention, but one pretty obvious parallel does exist: marginalized groups reread and reevaluate works from the past as part of their attempt to construct a more livable present. Adrienne Rich's idea of "re-visioning" -- which she develops in her 1972 essay "When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision" -- is pretty much all the theory you would need, if you think you need theory, to write a great essay on this topic. Rich writes: "Re-vision – the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of entering an old text from a new critical direction – is for woman more than a chapter in cultural history: it is an act of survival. Until we understand the assumptions in which we are drenched we cannot know ourselves. And this drive to self-knowledge, for women, is more than a search for identity: it is part of our refusal of the self-destructiveness of male-dominated society.” – JamesBKelley6 years ago
Want to write about Literature or other art forms?