Encountering Milton in Linmark’s Leche

Abstract

This chapter examines how R. Zamora Linmark rewrites key moments in Paradise Lost, such as the Fall and the Expulsion, in Leche (2011), a novel about a queer Filipinx man’s visit to the Philippines thirteen years after immigrating to the United States. By juxtaposing Paradise Lost with Leche, this chapter elucidates the associations between fallenness and racial difference, as well as the entanglements of migration with race and sexuality in Milton’s epic. More broadly, this chapter argues that critical race engagement on Milton’s presence in Linmark work can lead to nuanced understandings of the racial dynamics in Milton’s own work and a more robust articulation of how authors of colour are writing back against the constructions and inequalities of hierarchical racial systems.