Queer Fictions of the Past: History, Culture, and Difference

by Scott Bravmann

Overview

This is the first book to look at how lesbians and gays use history to define themselves as social, cultural, and political subjects. Bravmann shows how historical representations are dynamic conversations between past and present, creating individual and collective meanings. Exploring the theoretical and political ramifications of this project, he considers how historiography, ancient Greece, the Stonewall riots, and postmodern historical texts inform and reflect race, gender, class, and political differences in queer subjectivity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521599078
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/09/1997
Series:	Cambridge Cultural Social Studies
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.39(d)

Table of Contents

Part I. Queer Cultural Studies of History: 1. Metanarrative and gay identity; 2. Queer historical subjects; Part II. Reading Past Histories: 3. Re: reading queer history; 4. The lesbian and gay past: it's Greek to whom?; 5. Queer fictions of Stonewall; 6. Re/writing queer histories; Part III. Conclusions: 7. Queer fictions for the future.

Editorial Reviews

"This groundbreaking work attempts to elucidate the crucial role that history plays in gay/lesbian discourse. No person interested in lesbian/gay studies can afford to ignore this book. Bravmann's astute and always insightful analysis is bound to be of major importance to future scholars interested in reconceptualizing the gay and lesbian past..." Choice

"...the rewards of this book are significant." John Howard, American Historical Review

"This book should remind sociologists to think critically about the questions we ask, the subjects we choose, and the groups we omit." Mary Bernstein, American Journal of Sociology

"...[Bravmann] demonstrates not only how the past has been rewritten in terms of present-day concerns, but also how these revisions of the past have altered people's perceptions of the present." Chad Heap, Journal of Social History

From the Publisher