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''Epistemology of the Closet'' is a book published in 1990 by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, who is considered one of the founders of queer studies. In ''Epistemology of the Closet'', Sedgwick argues that standard binary oppositions limit freedom and understanding, especially in the context of sexuality. Sedgwick argues that limiting sexuality to homosexuality or heterosexuality, in a structured binary opposition, is just too simplistic.〔''Epistemology of the Closet'' Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (c1990)〕 ''Epistemology of the Closet'' attacks the question of what makes up human sexuality. The basis for the answer to this question comes from Sedgwick's understanding and examination of queer theory, which she describes for her readers. According to Sedgwick, the central thesis of the book is that "virtually any aspect of modern Western culture, must be, not merely incomplete, but damaged in its central substance to the degree that it does not incorporate a critical analysis of modern homo/heterosexual definition." In the book, Sedgwick analyzes a late nineteenth century historical moment in which sexual orientation became as important a definer of personal identity as gender had been for centuries. In her preface, Sedgwick examines the book both personally and historically, as she analyzes the first wave of the AIDS epidemic and its influence on the text. Through this and various other examples, Sedgwick reveals that several sexual contradictions result in modern misunderstanding. The book also largely focuses on language's impact on sexuality, and how labeled speech acts are ultimately the proof of the nature of one’s sexuality. ==Literary Influences== ''Epistemology of the Closet'' focuses on other literary works that reflect the social and political ideas of queer theorists. Some of the main authors that Sedgwick pulls from are Michel Foucault, Herman Melville, Oscar Wilde, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Marcel Proust. Sedgwick uses the writings of these authors to point out examples in other pieces of famous literary text that help propel her argument about the binary behind the homosexual identity and how language serves to define that binary. The chapter dedicated to Marcel Proust, which is titled “Proust and the Spectacle of the Closet,” is the end of ''Epistemology of the Closet''. In this chapter, Sedgwick evokes the figure of the woman who cannot know: “the omnipotent, unknowing mother” to whom Proust’s novel is addressed. This heterosexual woman is troubled by her inability to determine whether or not the men she is having sex with are bisexuals, and is therefore fearful that she has been infected with AIDS (248).〔Criticism, 2010, Vol.52(2), pp.253-262 (Reviewed Journal ) Litvak, Joseph〕 Sedgwick closes out her book with this example of the unknowing woman as a way to stress the difference between the male/female sexual identity that has been loosely defined by society (especially in the case of males). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Epistemology of the Closet」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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