Which of the following two books have their roots in Foucauldian thoughts on sexuality?
A) Metahistory
B) Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity
C) The Role of the Reader
D) Epistemology of the Closet
E) Sexual Politics
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

The correct answer is B and D only.

To understand why these books are rooted in Foucauldian thoughts on sexuality, we can examine the theoretical foundations of the options provided:

1. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Judith Butler, 1990) [B]:
Judith Butler’s pathbreaking work in queer theory and feminist philosophy is heavily indebted to Michel Foucault’s critique of power and discourse. Butler applies Foucault’s concepts from The History of Sexuality to argue that gender and sexuality are not biological constants but are instead performatively produced and regulated by discursive practices and institutions of power. Butler uses Foucault’s genealogical method to deconstruct the binary of sex and gender.

2. Epistemology of the Closet (Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, 1990) [D]:
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s work is another foundational text of queer theory that directly builds upon Foucauldian analyses of power, knowledge, and sexuality. Sedgwick explores how modern Western culture’s understandings of sexuality are structured around the homo/heterosexual definition. This analysis directly draws on Foucault’s thesis that sexuality is a historical construct and a locus of power-knowledge relations rather than a hidden truth waiting to be liberated.

Analysis of other options:
- A) Metahistory (1973) by Hayden White is a work of historiography and literary theory focusing on historical narrative structures rather than Foucauldian theories of sexuality.
- C) The Role of the Reader (1979) by Umberto Eco focuses on semiotics and reader-response theory.
- E) Sexual Politics (1970) by Kate Millett is a foundational second-wave feminist text that analyzes patriarchy through literature, written before Foucault's major works on sexuality gained prominence and established the post-structuralist queer theoretical framework.

Therefore, books B and D are the ones directly rooted in Foucauldian thoughts on sexuality.