Skip Navigation

Transgender Narratives

Books

The focus of this class is cross-disciplinary, and so the below guide focuses on literature but includes searching tips for queer theory, feminist theory, and queer and transgender narratives from a historical perspective. Depending on which author's works you are reading, you may find it useful to search for particular works relating to the author, or particular works relating to your subject. Remember that if you are searching a person as a topic of study, enter the name (last name first) as a subject, not as an author.

You may need to expand your search options to include other CUNY libraries, not just the Queens library, which will increase the number of hits. If you find a book you want at another CUNY library—one that we do not have at Rosenthal—you can request to have the book sent to the Rosenthal library for you through our Inter-Campus Service. Once you find the book you want to borrow in CUNY+, simply click the “Request a Copy” button, enter your barcode, and request where you want the book sent.

Subject verses author searches

Remember that when searching for books BY an author you will enter the author's name (last name, first name) in the Author entry field in your search. If you are searching for works ABOUT an author you enter the author's name (last, first) under the Subject entry field in your search.

Subject Headings:

(Note that if you truncate any of these subject headings you will broaden your results list)

Relating to Literature

Relating to History

Relating to Feminism

Call Numbers:

The Library of Congress doesn't break down literature by studies on gender (aside from specifying women authors) or by transgender studies, but of course any work of literature can (and often does) tackle themes of gender. Literature call numbers include:

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias are ready reference resources designed to help readers understand complex concepts within the work; entries tend to be alphabetic by entry but cross-referenced by theme, or author, depending on the encyclopedia. Depending on the specificity of the resource, one can look up a particular work, an author, a common theme, a historical landmark, and more, and discover its significance in the context of the culture or literature. They tend to cover a wide range of material, as opposed to a detailed analysis of an individual work.

Here are is a short list of encyclopedias you might find useful:

Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America (Electronic Resource)
A three-volume survey of more than 400 years of lesbian and gay history and culture in the United States, presented through over 500 alphabetically arranged entries. Coverage includes people, public policy, economics, social issues, identities, and culture, among many others.
Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture(Queens Reference Level 3 — HQ76.96 .R68 2006)
Entries are alphabetic, cross-referenced by theme, and feature prominent novelists, filmmakers, activists, playwrights, and themes, issues, historical events. Appendices list international glbt archives, the status of international sex laws by country, a list of international organizations.
Encyclopedia of Feminist Literature (Queens Reference Level 3 — PN471 .S58 2006)
An excellent resource. Covers major feminist themes, authors, and literary works, but also analyzes textbooks, classroom syllabi, and seminars. Appendices include lists by genre, author, a timeline, an extensive bibliography, and filmography.
International Encyclopedia of Men and Masculinities (Queens Reference Level 3 — HQ 1090 .I58 2007)
Essays documenting the organization of masculinity, drawing on theoretical, psychological, sociological, anthropological, and historical frameworks. Large sections devoted to gay and lesbian studies and homoeroticism.
The Women's Movement Today : An Encyclopedia of Third-Wave Feminism (Queens Reference Level 3 HQ1115.W644 2006, v1 & 2)
A two-volume set that introduces major third-wave feminist's key issues. Contributors include well-known feminist writers and thinkers

Small Sampling of Academic Works Relating to Transgender History/Gender Theory:

These books were all found by conducting subject searches in CUNY+ using the above-mentioned methods

Transgender History / Susan Stryker (Queens: HQ77.9 .S77 2008. and Electronic Resource)
A hip and modern resource navigating transgender history with the stated goal of situating transgender social change within a feminist framework. Opens with a glossary of terms, details 100 years of history, transgender liberation, the current state, and future work. List of further reading and resources at the end.
Stryker is also the author of The Transgender Studies Reader: HQ77.9 .T72 2006
Transgender Voices : Beyond Women and Men / Lori B. Girshick (Queens: HQ77.7 .G57 2008 and Electronic Resource)
Sociologist Lori Girshick interviews 150 transgender participants and allows them to speak for themselves; in doing so, she also discusses patterns in experience and analyzes prevalent gender theories.
The Gendered Society / Michael Kimmel / (Queens: HQ1075 .K547 2011)
The Gendered Society Reader / Michael Kimmel / (Queens: HQ1075 .G4672 2011)
The author explores current concepts of gender through feminine and masculine perspectives, tracing theoretical concepts through the fields of biology, sociology, psychology, and religion (though not literature), illustrating gender as a constructed concept.
In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives / Judith Halberstam (HQ75.5 .H335 2005)
The author mainly analyzes transgender films and art, with some literary analysis, but Halberstam is a highly influential queer/trans theorist so it seems worth pointing this book out. Halberstam is the author of Female Masculinities, HQ 75.5 .H33 1998, which is at the Grad Center, and a few other CUNY libraries.

Small Sampling of Academic Works Through a Literary Lens:

Gender, Sexuality, and Material Objects in English Renaissance Verse / Pamela S. Hammons (Electronic resource)
Part of the Women and Gender in the Modern World Series. Various CUNY libraries carry the forty books in this series. Peruse all the books in the series by entering: “SRS=Women and gender in the early modern world” in your search entry field.
The Passing Game : Queering Jewish American Culture / Warren Hoffman (Queens stacks: PS153.J4 H64 2009)
A fresh look at Jewish American queer culture through the lens of literature, including analysis of: Tony Kushner's Angels in America, short stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer, novels by Jo Sinclair, Philip Roth, and Abraham Cahan.
Pinks, Pansies, and Punks : The Rhetoric of Masculinity in American Literary Culture / James Penner (Baruch, Kingsborough: PS173.M36 P46 2011)
The author charts the construction of masculinity in American culture from the 30's to the 70's by examining American plays, novels, journals, screenplays, essays, and other facets of literary culture.
Presentism, Gender, and Sexuality in Shakespeare (Grad Center: PR3069 .S45 G35 2009)
Series of critical essays addressing presentism in Shakespeare's plays through analysis of gender roles, cross-dressing, homoeroticism, sexual orientation, and more.
Queer Dickens : Erotics, Families, Masculinities (Baruch: PR4592 .H56 F87 2009)
The author radically re-examines the works of Charles Dickens by arguing that his works accommodate queer ideology, sexuality, and a fascination with gender roles, placing him centrally alongside other celebrated queer literary figures.

Articles

There is not necessarily a correlation between gender studies (nestled in the social sciences) and English literature discourse covered in one journal or database, but the following resources should overlap fairly well. For instance, a cursory look into the MLA reveals numerous articles written about transgender narratives/issues. The e-journals listed below are limited to those with a humanities focus.

Databases:

MLA International Bibliography:
The most scholarly and comprehensive database for articles and books on the modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics and literary aspects of film. More than 66,000 citations are added annually.
JSTOR:
Covers over 500 journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Full text is available for all articles as recently as about 5 years ago.
Project Muse:
Full-text access to over 200 journals from university presses and scholarly societies, focusing on the humanities and social sciences. A smaller database than JSTOR, but they index an excellent list of journals and their full-text content is more recent.
Literature Criticism Online, a Gale database:
To access this database you'll need to go through Literature Criticism Online, or search for it through the Gale databases. The subjects covered include gender & sexuality in 15th through 18th century literature, gender in 19th century literature, gay & lesbian literature in the 20th century, feminist literary criticism, and more. You can limit your search to one of the series, or you can search the entire database.

Very Subject Specific:

Gender Studies Collection:
Indexes articles published between 1980 and 2011, and over 171,000 articles. Includes peer-reviewed journals.
Diversity Studies Collection:
Indexes articles published between 1980 and 2011, and includes 150 journals (and over four million articles). Covers a broader territory than the Gender Studies Collection, and includes religious, racial, ethnic issues as well as gender and sexuality.

E-Journals

Gender and Language (1747-6321)
from 05/01/2007 to 3 months ago in SocINDEX with Full Text
Gender Forum
from 2002 to present in Directory of Open Access Journals PLEASE NOTE: The latest issues of this journal may not be available on-line through DOAJ
GLQ (1064-2684)
from 2000 to present in Project MUSE - Standard Collection
Journal of Gender Studies (0958-9236)
from 11/01/1993 to 1 year ago in Academic Search Complete
Studies in Gender and Sexuality (1524-0657)
from 01/01/2001 to 1 year ago in Academic Search Complete
from 01/01/2000 to 1 year ago in SocINDEX with Full Text

Websites:

ALA's GLBT Round Table
The American Library Association's round table on GLBT issues, which includes several awards lists, reviews, and their newsletter.
Feminism and Women's Studies Glossary of Terms
A web glossary of gender related terminology hosted by Carnegie Mellon University's Women's Center. The website includes lots of information, including history, theory, gender and sexuality, and further lists of resources.
GLBTQ.com
An online encyclopedia of glbtq culture.
Judith “Jack” Halberstam's website
Check out the “articles” section for a list of specific academic articles about gender that Halberstam recommends.
The Lesbian Herstory Archives, Park Slope, Brooklyn
A historical archive dedicated to collecting textual documents about lesbian history. Includes original manuscripts and letters from numerous literary lesbians.
National Archive of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History, Manhattan
A historical archive dedicated to collecting materials documenting glbt history.
ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives (includes transgender community collections)
Collections of photos, documents, books, videos, and journals addressing GLBT issues (including rare and difficult to find works).

MLA Style

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed.

top

GUIDES

Citation Style Manuals

Accounting | Anthropology | American Studies | Asian Studies | Biology | Chemistry | Communication Disorders | Comparative Literature | Dance | Drama & Theatre | Economics ⁄ Business | Education | English | Family and Consumer Sciences | Food, Nutrition & Dietetics | French | German | Greek, Modern | Hebrew & Yiddish Language & Literature | History | Honors in the Social Sciences| Irish Studies | Italian | Jewish Studies | Latin American Studies | Library and Information Studies | Linguistics | Neuroscience | Philosophy | Physical Education & Exercise Sciences | Physics | Political Science | Psychology | Religion | Slavic Languages | Sociology | Spanish | Textiles & Apparel | Urban Studies | Women's Studies

This site conforms to the US Government Section 508 Accessibility Guidelines Valid XHTML Valid CSS