Document Type

Honors Project

Publication Date

6-13-2025

Abstract

Taking an interdisciplinary approach that sits at the intersection of musicology, literary studies, and queer studies, I undergo a queer reading of Emily Dickinson’s writings and subsequent interpretations of her works. I begin my analysis with a queering of genre, using archival evidence to consider the complex ways gendered genre norms affected how Dickinson wrote, how her works were edited and published, and how people have since read her. I then undertake a genre-queer reading of some of the writings that she sent to Susan Dickinson, her sister-in-law and lifelong love. I turn next to Aaron Copland’s 1950 setting for voice and piano, Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson. In the context of the Lavender Scare, I consider Copland’s choice to dedicate these songs to friends—many amongst his circle of queer colleagues—and enact a reading of these songs as letters. Finally, I look at Alena Smith’s 2019 television series, Dickinson. I consider the impact of queer imagination on the show’s depiction of Dickinson, paying special attention to the interaction of queer fans (and Taylor Swift fans!) with the show. Throughout my project, I wonder about the potential of queer disobedience as a reading practice that allows us to resist heteronormative and patriarchal systems and, ultimately, imagine queer possibilities into being.

Level of Honors

summa cum laude

Department

English

Advisor

Melissa Range

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