Using Queer and Black literature in the Norwegian EFL classroom to create awareness towards the intersections of multiple marginalised people

Abstract

This thesis argues that using Black queer literature in the English Foreign Language (EFL) classroom, such as Hurricane Child, and Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender, and The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, which depict the intersecting ways in which LGBTQ+ people of colour experience oppressive structures, can contribute to successful conversations about these structures that are based on a white supremacist hegemony. Moreover, they can assist the process of re-imagining and re-constructing discourses around race, sexuality, and gender to be more inclusive. Furthermore, using literature that provides Black queer stories in the EFL classroom is suggested to be a fruitful approach to develop intercultural competence and critical literacy. The thesis applies Critical Race Theory, Queer theory, and the concept of intersectionality as central theoretical frameworks to conduct a cultural analysis of the primary texts, with close reading as a method. Additionally, didactic concepts such as intercultural competence, critical literacy, and the pedagogy of discomfort is drawn from to link the themes of race, sexuality, and gender to the guidelines of LK20 regarding development of intercultural awareness and the ability of critical thinking.