ABSTRACT
I began this book by talking, broadly, about stakes: about the significance of literary studies, about the value of humanistic inquiry, about what counts within culture. With the comparatively recent social interest in queerness serving as a pivot point for analysis, I noted my desire (as well as my students’ desire) to emphasize some of the real-world consequences of reading and studying literature, particularly in terms of scholarly method and intent. In so doing, I have focused on the interconnections that exist between forms of curiosity and forms of pedagogy, noting how early works of U.S. literature operate within such associations not only by elucidating contemporary concerns but also by restructuring teleological understandings of history itself. Such efforts, I have suggested, depend to a large degree on disposition: how we see determines what we see, and thus the ways in which we approach texts can help lead to new appreciations for the cultural work that literature makes possible. In framing these considerations, I aimed to highlight the significance of what readers do as they read, to explore why we are drawn to some books and not to others, and to consider how our minds work and change through these processes. Above all, I have attempted to emphasize how our curiosities and attachments are not merely idiosyncratic and personal but are instead radically collective, pointing to relationships that have far-reaching social consequences.
