Lesbian gothic transgressive fictions online

Description:Only recently, however, have motifs and modes of fiction with Gothic associations, such as the witch, the vampire, the spectral visitor and the Gothic thriller, been appropriated by writers adopting a lesbian viewpoint to articulate the transgressive aspect of lesbian sexuality and existence. In reworking Gothic motifs and subjecting them to parodic revision, they challenge the prejudiced attitudes which traditionally inform the genre, transforming it into a vehicle for addressing a variety of lesbian and queer themes. These include the production of lesbian subjectivity and sexuality; relations between women; the relegation of the lesbian to the realm of the abject and the forms of resistance which she adopts; women's complex relationship with history and 'the lesbian past'; the performative aspect of role and identity; and the construction of alternative familial groups and formations. These and other topics are discussed in the light of the poststructuralist theoretical discourse furnished by the ideas of Julia Kristeva, Luce lrigaray, Judith Butler and Eve Sedgwick. While the study focuses chiefly on present-day writers, in tracing the development of lesbian Gothic and the influences it reflects, it also refers on occasion to earlier ones such as Daphne du Maurier, Djuna Barnes and Radclyffe Hall.

Views: 9901 Date: 2018-12-08 Favorited: 56