{"id":806,"date":"2022-09-27T18:16:26","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T22:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/?p=806"},"modified":"2022-09-27T18:16:26","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T22:16:26","slug":"eli-clares-pursuit-to-define-his-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/2022\/09\/27\/eli-clares-pursuit-to-define-his-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Eli Clare’s pursuit to define his identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Close reading Clare\u2019s first paragraph on page 31<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Clare uses intense words like \u2018must\u2019, \u2018need\u2019 and \u2018restrain\u2019 to highlight the challenges he faces writing a story about his identity. First, Clare says he \u2018must\u2019 acknowledge the\u00a0feeling of longing for\u00a0rural Oregon. He vocalizes how painful it is to talk about his hometown and how the\u00a0words that come from his mouth\u00a0ache\u00a0like an \u201cabscessed tooth\u201d. He feigns that he is moving on from this topic for the sake of his writing by saying\u00a0the word <\/span>homesick <\/span><\/i>is too overused, even after making such a chilling\u00a0simile to a tooth infection. Clare\u2019s pain seeps out from him even though it seems he wants\u00a0to display vulnerability in the most objective way possible. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Clare\u2019s\u00a0desire to remain objective is displayed in his efforts to find the definitions of <\/span>his identity which <\/span>he lists \u201c<\/span>Queer. Exile. Class<\/span><\/i>\u201d (31).<\/span> Clare says he\u00a0\u2018restrains\u2019 himself from using the dictionary because he knows them already\u2014he represents them.\u00a0Even though he failed at discussing his rural upbringing,\u00a0he is now able to describe\u00a0his true intention as the pursuit in defining his identity to himself, as challenging as that may be for someone who feels like the layers of their identity don\u2019t align. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In order to fully grasp his identity, he \u201c<\/span>needs\u00a0<\/span><\/i>to enter the maze created by dyke identity, class location, and white rural roots\u201d (31).\u00a0\u2018Need\u2019 points urgency to Clare\u2019s mission to meaningfully reflect on his life experiences. This quote reminded me of Eli Clare\u2019s \u201cThe good Body\u201d lecture where he draws importance to recognizing the complex, complicated, and contradictory nature of our bodies. This passage suggests Clare feels the same way about identity in general: one must identify each layer of their identity and work to make sense of it all, without regard to textbook definitions and stereotypes. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Close reading Clare\u2019s first paragraph on page 31\u00a0 Clare uses intense words like \u2018must\u2019, \u2018need\u2019 and \u2018restrain\u2019 to highlight the challenges he faces writing a story about his identity. First, Clare says he \u2018must\u2019 acknowledge the\u00a0feeling of longing for\u00a0rural Oregon. He vocalizes how painful it is to talk about his hometown and how the\u00a0words that … Continue reading Eli Clare’s pursuit to define his identity<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4999,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[344620],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-2022"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4999"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}