Novel Approaches to Lesbian History tells a tale about history and community in our allegedly post-identity era, examining contemporary novels that depict lesbian characters in recognizable historical situations. These imaginative stories provide a politically vital, speculative past in the face of a sketchy, problematic archive. Among the memorable characters in some 200 novels are pirates, cowgirls, and famous artists, ghosts and time travellers, immigrants and lovers. The best lesbian historical novels are conscientious and buoyant as they engage critical historiographical questions, but Novel Approaches also discusses the class and race biases that weigh on the genre. Some lesbian historical novels are based on archival evidence, others on conjecture or fantasy, but all convey the true fact that identity is elusive without a past, without which its future is nearly impossible.

Blends historiography with contemporary fiction studies to interrogate the elusive domain of lesbian history Provides a comprehensive look at a major subsection of lesbian fiction Makes use of feminist and queer theories, literature and genre fiction, while retaining readability

Autorentext

Linda Garber is the author of Identity Poetics: Race, Class, and the Lesbian-Feminist Roots of Queer Theory and Lesbian Sources: A Bibliography of Periodical Articles, and the editor of Tilting the Tower: Lesbians / Teaching / Queer Subjects. She is Associate Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Santa Clara University, USA.

Klappentext

Novel Approaches to Lesbian History tells a tale about history and community in our allegedly post-identity era, examining contemporary novels that depict lesbian characters in recognizable historical situations. These imaginative stories provide a politically vital, speculative past in the face of a sketchy, problematic archive. Among the memorable characters in some 200 novels are pirates, cowgirls, and famous artists, ghosts and time travellers, immigrants and lovers. The best lesbian historical novels are conscientious and buoyant as they engage critical historiographical questions, but Novel Approaches also discusses the class and race biases that weigh on the genre. Some lesbian historical novels are based on archival evidence, others on conjecture or fantasy, but all convey the true fact that identity is elusive without a past, without which its future is nearly impossible.

Inhalt
Chapter One. Who Knows, Who Cares, and Why Bother.- Chapter Two. H(a)unting the Archives.- Chapter Three. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lesbian Sex* *But Only in Historical Fiction.- Chapter Four. Tomboys and Indians.- Chapter Five. Unsafe Seas for Women.- Chapter Six. The Usual Suspects.- Epilogue: Failing That, Invent.