Navigating Identity Across Nonheteronormative Borders in Jackie Kay’s Trumpet

Abstract

This article aims to examine the complexities of identity as a multifaceted social construct, focusing on the potential interactions of gender and queer theories with ethnicity, class, and nationality. Jackie Kay’s novel Trumpet (1998) explores how gender intersects with various aspects of identity. The novel’s main character, Joss Moody, is a Black Scottish trumpeter who faces challenges stemming from social pressures due to his unique sexual orientation and hybrid national identity. A critical reading of the novel through the lens of queer theory strengthens multiple dimensions of Joss’s identity and demonstrates how gender interacts with ethnicity and class. This article delves into the intricate dynamics between social structures and marginalized individuals, addressing their quests for identity and efforts to transcend traditional expectations of gender and sexuality. Additionally, the study explores the ways in which media shape societal perceptions and reinforce traditional gender norms, examining Joss’s responses to social norms as he challenges them. Focusing on the identity journeys of marginalized characters in the novel, the study concludes that queer characters face challenges related to their social positions based on ethnicity, class, and nationality.

Keywords

• gender
• identity
• intersectionality
• queer theory
• trumpet
• toplumsal cinsiyet
• kimlik
• kesişimsellik
• kuir teorisi
• trompet