Abstract
In literary theory, literary criticism and in the Western literary canon there is evidence of an exclusion or erasure of a bisexual perspective, and this has also been the case within much of the written history of sexuality and theory, relating to gender, sexuality and identity. This thesis examines and analyses three literary classics; ‘Giovanni’s Room’ by James Baldwin, Alice Walker’s ‘The Color Purple,’ and ‘Brokeback Mountain’ by Annie Proulx, from a bisexual perspective. I have sought out to reveal, emphasize, and analyze bisexual elements present in the respective texts from a bisexual literary standpoint. This aspect of the texts has been ignored by most critics, and I believe it is paramount to begin to acknowledge the importance and significance of reading bisexually. The hetero/homo binary systematization of sexuality has contributed to this bisexual invisibility, as this has become a strict standardization of sexual identity, and a bisexual approach to the three texts reveals and emphasizes the negative effects of this. The thesis also presents a brief account of bisexuality in history, theory and, sociological and anthropological research, as well as the issues concerning bisexuality and conceptualization.