Queer Literacies: Queer Objects, Disorientation, and Sponsors of Literacy

Abstract

Since the 1990s, there have been increasing calls to “queer” curricula in order to challenge gender and sexuality norms. In this article, I develop a model of queer literacies that understands queer to encompass anti-normative ways of being and recognizes the agentic potential of queer objects to disorient individuals and spaces. I challenge educators to become sponsors of queer literacies in order to disrupt a range of normative ideologies and open up future possibilities in which difference is acknowledged and accepted. I conclude the article by illustrating how a queer object, Shaun Tan's picture book Cicada (2018), might be read using a queer literacies approach to promote critical literacy, social justice, and well-being.