“Ambiguous Pronouns” with Susan Stryker (Queer Forms and Pronouns Series)
It was an incredible honour to have THE Susan Stryker join me for a chat about ambiguous pronouns, trans literature and linguistic creativity. Susan’s wealth of knowledge on pronouns across languages and literary history was incredibly enriching and allowed me to speak about some of my favourite examples of ambiguous pronoun use in literature.
This conversation is part of a miniseries that accompanies my book Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026). I hope you like hearing more from your host, but not to worry: we will be back to our usual format in just a few weeks.
References:
Susan Stryker’s “My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Chamounix”
Susan Stryker’s Transgender History
Susan Stryker, Stephen Wittle, Aren Aizura (eds) The Transgender Studies Reader
Susan Stryker’s Changing Gender: The History and Future of a Concept (August 2026)
Sara Taylor’s The Lauras
Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s The Sleeping Hermaphrodite (1620)
Teagan Bradway
Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer (2019)
Lal Zimman
Rivers Solomon
Aphra Behn’s “To The Fair Clorinda” and “The Widow Ranter”
Thomas(ine) Hall
Nathaniel Bacon
Mel Y. Chen
Andrea Lawlor’s Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
Andrea Gibson’s “Your Life”
Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:
- Which pronouns are ambiguous when it comes to gender in English? Which ones are ambiguous in your first or favourite language?
- What creates ambiguity when we use pronouns? How might this ambiguity be productive?
- Susan explains why gendered pronouns in English function in an unusual way compared to other languages. What is something new you learned about this?
- We speak about why literature can teach us something about pronoun use that we might overlook when focusing on grammar. What is that?
- Can you name one of the examples of ambiguous pronoun use in literature we discuss?
