Fruitcake Weather: Queer/Disabled Community in Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory"

Authors

  • Scott St. Pierre Oklahoma State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v34i1.3451

Keywords:

intellectual disability, sexuality, community action, nostalgia, literary criticism

Abstract

This essay argues for a politically-inflected re-evaluation of Truman Capote’s classic holiday story “A Christmas Memory.”  It proposes, in contrast to prevailing readings of the tale as a de-politicized, nostalgic children’s story, that the text makes a compelling case for politically engaged, resistant community building by its disabled and queer characters, an important action rooted in the shared political interests of queer and disabled people.

 

Keywords: intellectual disability, sexuality, community action, nostalgia, literary criticism

 

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Published

2014-01-03

How to Cite

St. Pierre, S. (2014). Fruitcake Weather: Queer/Disabled Community in Truman Capote’s "A Christmas Memory". Disability Studies Quarterly, 34(1). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v34i1.3451

Issue

Section

Humanities, Arts, and Media