Counter-story in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

            Multicultural literature is important in today’s middle school and high school curricula, and within that umbrella of race and culture representation exists the equally relevant category of queer literature. Instead of positioning multicultural and queer literature as separate genres to consider – although there are good reasons for this separation of discourse – this essay will use ideas presented by Sandra Hughes-Hassell in Multicultural Young Adult Literature as a Form of Counter-Storytelling (Counter-Storytelling) and by Logan et. al. in Criteria for the Selection of Young Adult Queer Literature (Criteria) to show how the novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (A&D) by Benjamin Alire Sáenz not only meets several of the criteria Logan et. al. suggest but also in the larger genre of multicultural literature, this novel works well as a counter-story of queer experience. Further, by considering the two genres as interrelated, we start to discourse academically the naturalness and normative experiences of race and sexual identity, which could be quite useful when encountering the pushback of students in the classroom and the attempts to ban literature in our public schools based on reading about queer experience.

            The first aspect of teaching multicultural literature (including queer literature) is shifting the peripheral experiences of minority race and sexual identity towards the center ground of text examination in the classroom. Exposing our students to a variety of marginalized cultures and identities not only serves to create a space of tolerance and inclusion but also gives them a mirror and/or window to visualize and normalize the experiences of these individuals. Hughes-Hassell argues that “we cannot overestimate the power of seeing (or not seeing) oneself in literature” (214). Here, not only does Hughes-Hassell explain the power of relating to a character and their experiences but she also suggests the negating power of not being able to relate to characters and their stories if those stories do not exist in curricula.

 One of the criteria put forth for selecting queer literature in the classroom in the Criteria article is Windows and Mirrors. Logan et. al. explain, “Window opportunities expose students to aspects of the literature that offer new insights and perspectives to their existing notions. A mirror opportunity occurs when readers get to relate to what is read through reflective interactions with the characters” (33). The mirror aspect of A&D is very important to a classroom discussion for students who may identify as queer, and this calls to Hughes-Hassell’s discussion of the power of seeing oneself represented in literature. The window aspect of this criteria explains the power of representing marginalized identities in the classroom regardless of personal experiences of the students. Also, by offering “new insights and perspectives” the counter-story challenges stereotypes and assumed “existing notions” of what queer identity and queer experience entails.

Another criterion suggested in Criteria for selecting queer literature requires examination of existing stereotypes and the challenges to those stereotypes. Through two different male characters A&D offers new insights and perspectives for queer identity and consciousness. A&D offers both a stereotype of a queer identity and a character who challenges that stereotype in his growth toward queer identity. In some ways the character Dante is a stereotype of queer identity because he is the one who approaches Ari, he is the sentimental, emotional, and physically affectionate character. Early in the novel when Ari is getting to know Dante, he realizes their differences. After they confront (for different reasons) some boys about killing a bird, Ari speculates:

Dante was crying again. And I felt mean because I didn’t feel like crying. I didn’t really feel anything for the bird. […] I was harder than Dante. […] Maybe he could like the fact that I was hard just as I liked the fact that he wasn’t hard. […] And why was it that some guys had tears in them and some had no tears at all? Different boys lived by different rules (54-55).

This examination into the different characters Ari and Dante positions them as opposites. Dante is the emotional kid who cares about a killing of a bird. Ari struggles with compassion for the dead bird. Dante’s the soft one, Ari is the hard one. Dante cries Ari doesn’t. Ari questioning the differences between the two of them questions the reader’s potential assumption of the effeminate gay through stereotype. At this early point a reader could begin to speculate that perhaps Dante is gay but Ari is not. However, by the end of the novel and through Ari’s growth into a young man with this friendship, we learn that tough, masculine, quiet and aloof Ari is gay as is effeminate, sweet, beautiful, emotional Dante. A&D provides a stereotype and a challenge to that stereotype through the two characters Ari and Dante. Ari as character not only provides a window wherein any reader can examine the internal struggles the non-stereotype goes through in developing his sexual identity, but also provides a counter-story for the queer identity.

Logan et. al. summarize Clark and Blackburn’s assertion that “YA queer literature should be steeped in queer consciousness that portrays multiple queer characters within supportive communities and families” (as qtd in Logan et. al. 33). Although Ari and Dante encounter hate crimes against the LGBTQ community, both of their immediate families support their queer identity 100%. This affirms and normalizes their experiences with sexual identity. Also, if we consider the traditional story as the marginalized and discriminated identity struggling to find affirmation and acceptance, A&D challenges this notion by providing a counter-story where both of the kids’ parents know and embrace their sons’ struggle with sexual identity. A&D offers the acceptance of marginalized identities as a central lesson in the familial community and as a counter-story to the trope of the disowned/abandoned queer character.

There are many valuable criteria for integrating this novel into a unit on multicultural identity and queer identity in a middle-school or high-school classroom. This novel is rich in symbolism and text complexity and presents possibilities for cross-curricular activity. It meets the most essential criteria Logan et. al. present: curriculum relevance and literary merit (34), but reaching beyond that it also meets their criteria of presenting windows and mirrors into queer experience and the challenge of stereotypes. More importantly, as with any noteworthy multicultural literature, it presents the characters and their stories within a context of the counter-story, positioning queer identity and its struggles as acceptable and normal.

Works Cited

Blackburn, Mollie V. and Carolina T. Clark. “Analyzing Talk in a Long-Term Literature Discussion Group: Ways of Operating within LGBT-inclusive and Queer Discourses.” Reading Research Quarterly 46.3 (2009): pp. 222-248. Print.

Hughes-Hassell, Sandra. “Multicultural Young Adult Literature as a Form of Counter-Storytelling.” The Library Quarterly: Information. Community, Policy. Vol 83 No.3 July 2013, pp. 212-228. The University of Chicago Press. PDF. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/670696.

Logan, Stephanie R., Terri A. Lasswell, Yolanda Hood, and Dwight C. Watson. “Criteria for the Selection of Young Adult Queer Literature” English Journal 103.5 (May 2014) pp. 30-41. National Council of Teachers of English. PDF.

Sáenz, Benjamin Alire. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. 2012. Print.