Beyond the Heteronorm

Book excerpt: Beyond the Heteronorm: Interrogating Critical Alterities in Global Art and Literature explores exclusionary practices inspired by the construct of gender and how these conventions often misconstrue and convolute sex, gender, and sexual orientation. The contributors to this collection examine literary and visual representations of critical alterities from around the globe to produce empathic and inclusive analyses of experiences shared between diverse subordinated and minoritized socio-cultural entities and collectives. Organized into three parts, the chapters critique the concepts of personhood, performativity, and the post-binary. This edited collection deconstructs gender essentialism and embraces gender inclusivity in both theory and practice.