Lesbian Gothic: Transgressive Fictions

by Paulina Palmer

Tracing the growth of lesbian Gothic fiction over the 25 years since the advent of the Women's Movement and Gay Liberation in the 1970s, this text discusses a wide selection of novels and stories, contextualizing and re-evaluating them in the light of changing currents in lesbian/queer culture and politics. The figure of the lesbian, frequently portrayed in a homophobic/misogynistic light, has long been a standard component of popular Gothic fiction and film. The author argues, however, that in more contemporary fiction, motifs and modes of fiction with Gothic associations, such as the witch, the vampire, the spectral visitor and the Gothic thriller, have been appropriated by writers adopting a lesbian viewpoint to articulate the transgressive aspect of lesbian sexuality and existence. Writers whose texts receive discussion include Rebecca Brown, Pat Califia, Emma Donoghue, Katherine V. Forrest, Ellen Galford, Sarah Schulman, Mary Wings and Jeanette Winterson. Included are such topics as the production of lesbian subjectivity and sexuality; relations between women; 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.

Genres: LGBT, Nonfiction, Lesbian, Vampires

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

Reviews

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

great news everyone: big titty goth gfs ARE REAL, all vampires ARE GAY, and if you get pegged with a strap by a spectral visitor there are several critical theorists from the 80s that will back you up in a court of law NO QUESTIONS ASKED except if it was abject enough for you.

it is a shame that since the 90s so many of these explorations of the selves have been continually and systematically subjected to a stultification right back into the ideologically hegemonic forms of identity they were, and still are, seeking freedom from. i think you could perform the “transgressive” and its cultural milieu of douchebags at this point. freedom is the really disturbing thing.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

作者主要聚焦于70-90年代的女同性恋哥特小说研究，横向分析了经常出现的几个主题。
相比较于传统的现实题材，哥特小说给现实中被压抑被放逐的les们创造出了更自由的空间去创作去探索。但依旧延续了比较经典的哥特母题，闹鬼的大宅、与亡灵的纠缠等等，每个主题在女作家们的笔下都焕发出了新的活力。不仅当时的读者需要阅读这样的故事，创作者们也感受到自己有这样的需求去书写的文学作品。

经典的女巫形象在她们的书写中由无主体性被迫害的群体形象，转变为反抗父权制、拥有独立力量和姐妹情谊的偶像，我们现在的很多语境都在延续这一形象。而萦绕着幽灵的传统大宅，也变成女性们探索各方面创伤的新疆域，跨时代追寻和自己文化、历史上“母亲”的连接。

受后结构主义、酷儿理论影响，质疑稳定的身份，强调性欲的流动性和表演性。女同性恋性激进派和酷儿运动兴起，强调性快感、角色扮演和逾越。吸血鬼就成为了这样探索的良好载体，创作者们以戏谑、颠覆的方式解构这些意象本身，挑战关于“正常”、“自然”的观念。
女同性恋作家也将哥特式的悬疑、阴郁氛围与惊悚小说的调查结构相结合。故事中的秘密往往是关于性取向、被隐藏的欲望或社会暴力（如恐同犯罪）。女同性恋侦探在调查外部谜案的同时，也在探查自身的身份和欲望。

无论这些创作是否受到当时radfem思想的影响，到底是在重复陈旧的对于女性产生束缚的叙事框架，还是经由这些经典的受困的角色给出自己的解读，每一个作者的创作都是需要被听到的一种声音。时至今日，这一题材也是很多女作家用来使得陈旧叙事焕发新活力的积极尝试。（正在进行的年度总结也写到了这个主题，同时给出了自己比较喜欢的一些更当下的故事。）

非常非常欣喜能够看到这么多的女同性恋哥特小说，已经标记了很多比较感兴趣的，将在圣诞假期狂暴阅读

[Amaranta]

te amo mucho paulina palmer, cuando crezca quiero ser como tú (en este libro nomás):
"Gothic, while inspiring literary and cinematic texts that are ideologically radical, such as Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber (1979) and Carl Dreyer’s Day o f Wrath (1943), has also
produced ones notorious for their misogyny (William Friedkin’s The
Exorcist (1973)), lesbophobia (Alasdair Gray’s Something Leather (1990)) or racism (Lovecraft’s The Lurker at the Threshold (1945))"

[Col]

read for school but also this was a fantastic read just on its own