Gay Signatures: Gay and Lesbian Theory, Fiction and Film in France, 1945-1995

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Description

This interdisciplinary book responds to the explosion of gay and lesbian creativity on modern-day France. Rather than attempting to formalize a specifically 'gay' or 'lesbian' style or identity, the authors seek to open up new 'homotextualities,' understood here as ongoing constructions and deconstructions of both homosexuality and its environments. They investigate the work of (among others) Violette Leduc, Tony Duvert, Renaud Camus, and Guy Hocquenghem; the cinema of Josiane Balasko and Cyril Collard; the theoretical writings of Leo Bersani, Luce Irigaray, and Monique Wittig. Employing a range of methods, authors re-evaluate and contest both the literary and theoretical canon and establish new convergences between French and Gay Studies - in particular, queer theory. This book provides the first proper assessment of the usefulness of this approach when dealing with a literary and cultural tradition notoriously discreet about the very concept of a gay writer.

Reviews

'Original, cogently argued, and well researched.' MLR 'A very welcome collection.' FS (French Studies) 'A consistently challenging, accessible, and amply documented set of essays which avoid the naivetes of earlier criticism.' Forum for Modern Language Studies 'The individual chapters offer thoughtful, well-argued insights into gay literature in contemporary France.' Th Lesbian Review of Books '...all the contributors...write sharply, deploying contemporary theory with a command that makes their work pleasurable as well as intellectually rigorous reading.' Film and Theory Review

Author Bio

Owen Heathcote Dept of Modern Languages,University of Bradford Alex Hughes Professor in French Studies, University of Birmingham James S. Williams Senior Lecturer in French and Comparative Literature, University of Kent