I would define Queer Theory as a framework that examines the binary of our ideas of homosexuals and heterosexuals and gender and sexuality by identifying how and why power is wielded in and across these categories.
I think Queer Theory serves as a useful additional lense for understanding written narratives for comparative literature majors. In addition to Feminist Theory, Queer Theory supplies a reader with the vocabulary necessary to consider power dynamics, motivation, and other aspects of characterization. When specifically applied to comparing literatures transnationally, Queer Theory serves as a tool that could locate differences and similarities in literary representations of the society the writers of different works live in.
In her article “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics,” Cohen provides the example of the legal barriers against interracial marriage that existed until the late 1960s. Here, the relationship between marriage and white supremacy is queered as the institution of marriage is recognized as a cultural practice grounded in the “preservation of the white race.” To draw a divide between those who are heterosexual and those who are queer dismisses this and other consequences of behavior that is found to be unacceptable by the ruling tradition of white supremacy. With their similarities in mind, queer and heterosexual people alike could potentially come together to form a coalition against the forces that they oppose. One of the difficulties of coalition politics is effectively utilizing intersection ideas and addressing the variance of power held by different persons in these groups.
Citation: Cathy J. Cohen, “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics?” GLQ 3 (1997): 437-465.