The Library
Difference, identification and desire : contemporary lesbian genre fiction
Tools
Andermahr, Sonya (1993) Difference, identification and desire : contemporary lesbian genre fiction. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
|
PDF
WRAP_THESIS_Andermahr_1993.pdf - Submitted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (16Mb) |
Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b1416002~S1
Abstract
The focus of this dissertation entitled 'Difference, Identification &
Desire: Contemporary Lesbian Genre Fiction' is the representation of
lesbian identity in four contemporary popular lesbian genres:
autobiographical fiction, speculative fiction, romance fiction and
crime fiction. The aim of the dissertation is three-fold. Firstly, it
seeks to acknowledge and celebrate the large variety of
representations of lesbianism produced by lesbian writers working
with popular forms of the novel during the past twenty five years.
Secondly, it explores the ways in which lesbian writers have reworked
popular genres in order to highlight lesbian and feminist concerns
and to depict aspects of lesbian existence. It analyzes the effects
of introducing discourses of lesbianism into the plots of popular
genres, showing how the latter have been subverted or adapted by
lesbian use. Thirdly, the thesis seeks to specify the ways in which
the generic forms themselves, according to their own codes and
conventions, shape and mediate the representation of lesbian identity
in the text. In addition to this focus, the dissertation traces a
number of themes and concerns across and within the four genres under
discussion. These include the relationship in the texts between the
sign 'lesbian' and the discourse of feminism, and the oscillation
between the representation of lesbian sexual identity in terms of
woman-identification and difference-between women. The aim
throughout the analysis of contemporary lesbian genre fiction is to
identify both that which is specific to lesbian representation and
that which is characteristic of the particular genre under
discussion. The dissertation represents a contribution to three areas
of literary study: Genre Studies and Feminist Studies in general, and
to Lesbian Studies in particular.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) |
||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Lesbianism in literature, Lesbians' writings, Feminist literature | ||||
Official Date: | September 1993 | ||||
Dates: |
|
||||
Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Palmer, Paulina, 1937- | ||||
Extent: | ii, 315 p. | ||||
Language: | eng |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year