Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"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
Synopsis
Explores the role of history and literature in gay and lesbian identity, and in queer theory.
Synopsis
This is the first book to explore how lesbians and gay men use history to define themselves as social, cultural, and political subjects. Analyses of historiography, ancient Greece, Stonewall, and postmodern historical texts show how historical representations inform and reflect queer subjectivity.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-170) and index.
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.