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Heterosexual Plots and Lesbian Narratives
What is lesbian literature? Must it contain overtly lesbian characters, and portray them in a positive light? Must the author be overtly (or covertly) lesbian? Does there have to be a lesbian theme and must it be politically acceptable?
Marilyn Farwell here examines the work of such writers as Adrienne Rich, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Jeanette Winterson, Gloria Naylor, and Marilyn Hacker to address these questions. Dividing their writings into two genres--the romantic story and the heroic, or quest, story, Farwell addresses some of the most problematic issues at the intersection of literature, sex, gender, and postmodernism.
Illustrating how the generational conflict between the lesbian- feminists of twenty years ago and the queer theorists of today stokes the critical fires of contemporary lesbian and literary theory, Heterosexual Plots and Lesbian Narratives concludes by arguing for a broad and generous definition of lesbian writing.
Marilyn Farwell here examines the work of such writers as Adrienne Rich, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Jeanette Winterson, Gloria Naylor, and Marilyn Hacker to address these questions. Dividing their writings into two genres--the romantic story and the heroic, or quest, story, Farwell addresses some of the most problematic issues at the intersection of literature, sex, gender, and postmodernism.
Illustrating how the generational conflict between the lesbian- feminists of twenty years ago and the queer theorists of today stokes the critical fires of contemporary lesbian and literary theory, Heterosexual Plots and Lesbian Narratives concludes by arguing for a broad and generous definition of lesbian writing.
- GenresNonfiction
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
41 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 19, 2021
“𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑜𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠.“
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This was a really interesting read. Essentially Farwell tried to identify what a “lesbian narrative” is and how it functions. Is it merely a narrative featuring lesbians? Is it enough to be written by a lesbian? Must it reflect or counteract specific conventions and attitudes to count as a “lesbian narrative”? While I found this very interesting, I definitely disagreed with her conclusions in a lot of places, especially her emphasis on Postmodern theories wherein the most “lesbian” texts seemed to be ones that don’t feature lesbians, or even women, at all. I’m not the biggest fan of Postmodernism’s influence on academia and I find it more purposefully obfuscating instead of helpful as a tool for analysis. But it was interesting reading her thoughts and especially her analysis of the texts Mists of Avalon and Written on the Body. Definitely makes me miss studying literature.
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This was a really interesting read. Essentially Farwell tried to identify what a “lesbian narrative” is and how it functions. Is it merely a narrative featuring lesbians? Is it enough to be written by a lesbian? Must it reflect or counteract specific conventions and attitudes to count as a “lesbian narrative”? While I found this very interesting, I definitely disagreed with her conclusions in a lot of places, especially her emphasis on Postmodern theories wherein the most “lesbian” texts seemed to be ones that don’t feature lesbians, or even women, at all. I’m not the biggest fan of Postmodernism’s influence on academia and I find it more purposefully obfuscating instead of helpful as a tool for analysis. But it was interesting reading her thoughts and especially her analysis of the texts Mists of Avalon and Written on the Body. Definitely makes me miss studying literature.
January 12, 2023
Loved it, she makes an amazing point about lesbian works in literature and lesbians having a lack of representation in queer theory and lesbian theory
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews