Research Article
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Navigating Identity Across Nonheteronormative Borders in Jackie Kay’s Trumpet

Year 2023, , 96 - 100, 28.12.2023
https://doi.org/10.5152/AUJFL.2023.23127

Abstract

This article aims to examine the complexities of identity as a multifaceted social construct, focusing on the potential interactions of gender and queer theories with ethnicity, class, and nationality. Jackie Kay’s novel Trumpet (1998) explores how gender intersects with various aspects of identity. The novel’s main character, Joss Moody, is a Black Scottish trumpeter who faces challenges stemming from social pressures due to his unique sexual orientation and hybrid national identity. A critical reading of the novel through the lens of queer theory strengthens multiple dimensions of Joss’s identity and demonstrates how gender interacts with ethnicity and class. This article delves into the intricate dynamics between social structures and marginalized individuals, addressing their quests for identity and efforts to transcend traditional expectations of gender and sexuality. Additionally, the study explores the ways in which media shape societal perceptions and reinforce traditional gender norms, examining Joss’s responses to social norms as he challenges them. Focusing on the identity journeys of marginalized characters in the novel, the study concludes that queer characters face challenges related to their social positions based on ethnicity, class, and nationality.

References

  • Aygan, T. (2023). Orpheus and Eurydice revisited: Grief and grieving in Zinnie Harris' meet me at dawn. Litera, 33(1), 53–69. [CrossRef]
  • Clandfield, P. (2002). 'What is in My Blood?': Contemporary Black Scottishness and the work of Jackie Kay. in T. Hubel & N. Brooks (Eds.), Literature and Racial Ambiguity (Vol. 4). Brill.
  • Cover, R. (1999). Queer with class: Absence of third world sweatshop in lesbian/gay discourse and a rearticulation of materialist queer theory.
  • Ariel. Fong, R. D. (2011). Weaving a different kind of tartan: Musicality, spectrality, and kinship in Jackie Kay’s trumpet. in M. Aydemir & J. Geiger (Eds.), Indiscretions: At the intersection of queer and postcolonial theory (pp. 243–264). Rodopi. [CrossRef]
  • Gwyn, K., & Okazawa-Rey, M. (2004). Women’s lives: Multicultural perspectives. McGraw-Hill.
  • Harper, P. B. (1997). Queer transexions of race, nation and gender. Social Text, 95. Duke University Press.
  • Homans, M. (2020). Jackie Kay's trumpet: Transnational and transracial adoption, transgender identity, and fictions of transformation. Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, 39(1), 123–150. [CrossRef]
  • Jenkins, C. M. (2002). Queering black patriarchy: The salvific wish and masculine possibility in Alice Walker’s the Color Purple. MFS Modern Fiction Studies (Vol. 48). Johns Hopkins University Press.[CrossRef]
  • Kay, J. (1999). Trumpet. Picador.
  • Lanzerotti, R., Mayer, M., Ormiston, W., & Podwoski, L. (2002). Racism in queer communities: What can white people do? Race, Gender & Class, 9(1), 55–71.
  • Morton, D., Bersani, L., Blasius, M., Champagne, J., Field, N., & Halperin, D. M. (1996). The class politics of queer theory. College English, 58(4), 474–475. [CrossRef]
  • Richardson, M. (2012). My father didn't have a dick: Social death and Jackie Kay's trumpet. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 18, 368–369. [CrossRef]
  • Rushdy, A. H. (2001). Remembering generations: Race and family in contemporary African American fiction. University of North Carolina P.
  • Sedgwick, E. K. (1993). Tendencies. Duke UP.
  • Seidman, S. (1994). Queer-ing Sociology, Sociologizing queer theory: An introduction.Sociological Theory,12(2),166-177. [CrossRef]
  • Seshadri-Crooks, K. (2000). Desiring whiteness: A Lacanian analysis of race Routledge
  • Smith, B. (1993). Queer politics: Where’s the revolution. The Nation, 257, 13.
  • Warner, M. (1999). The trouble with normal sex, politics, and the ethics of queer life. Free Press.

Jackie Kay’in Trompet Adlı Eserinde Heteronormatif Sınırların Ötesinde Kimlik

Year 2023, , 96 - 100, 28.12.2023
https://doi.org/10.5152/AUJFL.2023.23127

Abstract

Bu makale, cinsiyet ve kuir teorilerin etnik köken, sınıf ve milliyetle potansiyel olarak etkileşim biçimlerine odaklanarak, çok yönlü bir sosyal yapı olarak kimliğin karmaşıklıklarını incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Jackie Kay’in Trompet (1998) adlı romanı, cinsiyetin kimliğin farklı yönleriyle nasıl kesiştiğini ele almaktadır. Romanın ana karakteri Joss Moody, deneyimleri, kendine özgü cinsel yönelimleri ve melez ulusal kimliği nedeniyle sosyal baskılardan kaynaklanan zorluklarla karşılaşan bir siyahi İskoç trompetçidir. Romanın kuir teori aracılığıyla eleştirel bir şekilde okunması, Joss’un kimliğinin birçok yönünü güçlendirirken, cinsiyetin etnik köken ve sınıfla nasıl etkileştiğini de gösterir. Bu makale, sosyal yapılar ve marjinalleşmiş bireyler arasındaki karmaşık dinamikleri inceleyerek, bu bireylerin kimlik arayışlarını ve geleneksel cinsiyet ve cinsellik beklentilerinin ötesine geçme çabalarını ele almaktadır. Ayrıca bu çalışma medyanın toplumun algılarını şekillendirme ve geleneksel cinsiyet normlarını güçlendirme yönlerini de ele alarak kimlik arayışındaki Joss’un sosyal normlara meydan okuyan tepkilerini ele alır. Çalışma, marjinal karakterlerin kimlik yolculuklarına odaklanarak, daha geniş sosyal mekanizmaları eleştirme ve toplumsal cinsiyete dair bulgular sunar. Makale, romandan kurgusal örneklerle desteklendiği üzere kuir karakterlerin etnik köken, sınıf ve milliyet kökenli sosyal konumlarıyla ilgili sorunlarla karşı karşıya olduğu sonucuna varmaktadır.

References

  • Aygan, T. (2023). Orpheus and Eurydice revisited: Grief and grieving in Zinnie Harris' meet me at dawn. Litera, 33(1), 53–69. [CrossRef]
  • Clandfield, P. (2002). 'What is in My Blood?': Contemporary Black Scottishness and the work of Jackie Kay. in T. Hubel & N. Brooks (Eds.), Literature and Racial Ambiguity (Vol. 4). Brill.
  • Cover, R. (1999). Queer with class: Absence of third world sweatshop in lesbian/gay discourse and a rearticulation of materialist queer theory.
  • Ariel. Fong, R. D. (2011). Weaving a different kind of tartan: Musicality, spectrality, and kinship in Jackie Kay’s trumpet. in M. Aydemir & J. Geiger (Eds.), Indiscretions: At the intersection of queer and postcolonial theory (pp. 243–264). Rodopi. [CrossRef]
  • Gwyn, K., & Okazawa-Rey, M. (2004). Women’s lives: Multicultural perspectives. McGraw-Hill.
  • Harper, P. B. (1997). Queer transexions of race, nation and gender. Social Text, 95. Duke University Press.
  • Homans, M. (2020). Jackie Kay's trumpet: Transnational and transracial adoption, transgender identity, and fictions of transformation. Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, 39(1), 123–150. [CrossRef]
  • Jenkins, C. M. (2002). Queering black patriarchy: The salvific wish and masculine possibility in Alice Walker’s the Color Purple. MFS Modern Fiction Studies (Vol. 48). Johns Hopkins University Press.[CrossRef]
  • Kay, J. (1999). Trumpet. Picador.
  • Lanzerotti, R., Mayer, M., Ormiston, W., & Podwoski, L. (2002). Racism in queer communities: What can white people do? Race, Gender & Class, 9(1), 55–71.
  • Morton, D., Bersani, L., Blasius, M., Champagne, J., Field, N., & Halperin, D. M. (1996). The class politics of queer theory. College English, 58(4), 474–475. [CrossRef]
  • Richardson, M. (2012). My father didn't have a dick: Social death and Jackie Kay's trumpet. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 18, 368–369. [CrossRef]
  • Rushdy, A. H. (2001). Remembering generations: Race and family in contemporary African American fiction. University of North Carolina P.
  • Sedgwick, E. K. (1993). Tendencies. Duke UP.
  • Seidman, S. (1994). Queer-ing Sociology, Sociologizing queer theory: An introduction.Sociological Theory,12(2),166-177. [CrossRef]
  • Seshadri-Crooks, K. (2000). Desiring whiteness: A Lacanian analysis of race Routledge
  • Smith, B. (1993). Queer politics: Where’s the revolution. The Nation, 257, 13.
  • Warner, M. (1999). The trouble with normal sex, politics, and the ethics of queer life. Free Press.
There are 18 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Selçuk Şentürk 0000-0002-6084-4032

Mine Sevinç Kayahan 0000-0002-8844-4233

Publication Date December 28, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023

Cite

APA Şentürk, S., & Sevinç Kayahan, M. (2023). Navigating Identity Across Nonheteronormative Borders in Jackie Kay’s Trumpet. Edebiyat Ve Beşeri Bilimler Dergisi(71), 96-100. https://doi.org/10.5152/AUJFL.2023.23127