“You know that a boy who likes boys is a dead boy.” : traumatic construction of self in Crush (2005) by Richard Siken

Abstract

The paper focuses on the construction of traumatized self in the poems of Richard Siken presented in Crush (2005). First, the analytical approach is formed by taking a look at the historical continuum of queer death and theorizing the link between homophobia and tragic outlook on life through topics of violence and hierarchic reality of men. The discussion about the difference between heterosexist and queer representative narration of death is touched on. After the analytical basis is examined, the poems are interpreted within the frameworks of violence and loss of agency; the two topics are identified as the main building blocks of the traumatized self in this particular research paper. The object of analysis is mainly the multilayered subject that is present in the poems. The final part of the analysis focuses on overcoming trauma; and, eventually, what the overcoming means in the larger framework of queer literature and representation of homophobia.