Kooperativer Bibliotheksverbund

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Format: XVI, 185 S. : , Ill.

ISBN: 0-231-11324-2 , 0-231-11325-0

Series Statement: Between men - between women

Additional Edition: Erscheint auch als Online-Ausgabe ISBN 978-0-231-50027-2

Language: English

Subjects: American Studies

Keywords: 1873-1947 Cather, Willa ; Lesbische Orientierung ; 1873-1947 Cather, Willa ; Literatur ; Homosexualität

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Format: 1 online resource (190p.)

ISBN: 9780231500272

Series Statement: Between Men-Between Women: Lesbian and Gay Studies

Content: Although it has been proven posthumously by scholars that Willa Cather had lesbian relationships, she did not openly celebrate lesbian desire, and even today is sometimes described as homophobic and misogynistic. What, then, can a reassessment of this contentious first lady of American letters add to an understanding of the gay identities that have emerged in America over the past century? As Marilee Lindemann shows in this study of the novelist's life and work, Cather's sexual coming-of-age occurred at a time when a cultural transition was recasting love between women as sexual deviance rather than romantic friendship. At the same time, the very identity of "America" was characterized by great instability as the United States emerged as a modern industrial nation and imperial power. Indeed, both terms, "queer" and "America," achieved fresh ideological potency at the turn of the century. Willa Cather: Queering America is an enlightening unpacking of Cather's writings, from her controversial love letters of the 1890s--in which "queer" is employed to denote sexual deviance--to her epic novels, short stories, and critical writings. Lindemann points to the "queer" qualities of Cather's fiction--rebellion against traditional fictional form, with sometimes unlikable characters, lack of emphasis on heroic action, and lack of engagement in the drama of heterosexual desire.

Language: English

DOI: 10.7312/lind11324

URL: https://doi.org/10.7312/lind11324

UID:

Format: 1 online resource (217 p.)

ISBN: 1-282-87184-6 , 9786612871849 , 0-231-50027-0

Series Statement: Between Men-Between Women: Lesbian and Gay Studies

Content: Although it has been proven posthumously by scholars that Willa Cather had lesbian relationships, she did not openly celebrate lesbian desire, and even today is sometimes described as homophobic and misogynistic. What, then, can a reassessment of this contentious first lady of American letters add to an understanding of the gay identities that have emerged in America over the past century? As Marilee Lindemann shows in this study of the novelist's life and work, Cather's sexual coming-of-age occurred at a time when a cultural transition was recasting love between women as sexual deviance rather than romantic friendship. At the same time, the very identity of "America" was characterized by great instability as the United States emerged as a modern industrial nation and imperial power. Indeed, both terms, "queer" and "America," achieved fresh ideological potency at the turn of the century. Willa Cather: Queering America is an enlightening unpacking of Cather's writings, from her controversial love letters of the 1890s--in which "queer" is employed to denote sexual deviance--to her epic novels, short stories, and critical writings. Lindemann points to the "queer" qualities of Cather's fiction--rebellion against traditional fictional form, with sometimes unlikable characters, lack of emphasis on heroic action, and lack of engagement in the drama of heterosexual desire.

Note: Description based upon print version of record. , Frontmatter -- , Contents -- , Note on Texts and List of Abbreviations -- , Acknowledgments -- , Introduction: The Novelist, the Critic, and the "Queer" -- , PART I. Fear of a Queer Prairie: Figures of the Body and/ as the Nation in the Letters and Early Novels -- , 1. Driving One-Handed: The Law, the Letter, and the Unsanctioned Voice -- , 2. "Filling Out Nice": Body-Building and Nation-Building in the Early Novels -- , PART II. Queering the "Classics": Willa Cather and the Literary History of the United States -- , 3. "In a Prohibition Country": The Culture Wars of the 1920s -- , 4. Comrades and Countrymen: Queer Love and a Dream of "America" -- , Conclusion: Queer (R)Age-Notes on the Late Fiction and the Queering of the World -- , Notes -- , Works Cited -- , Index , Issued also in print. , English

Additional Edition: ISBN 0-231-11325-0

Language: English

DOI: 10.7312/lind11324