Lesbian literature

Overview

Lesbian literature includes works by lesbian authors, as well as lesbian-themed works by heterosexual authors. Even works by lesbian writers that do not deal with lesbian themes are still often considered lesbian literature. Works by heterosexual writers which treat lesbian themes only in passing, on the other hand, are not often regarded as lesbian literature.

The fundamental work of lesbian literature is the poetry of Sappho of Lesbos. From various ancient writings, historians have gathered that a group of young women were left in Sappho's charge for their instruction or cultural edification. Not much of Sappho's poetry remains, but that which does demonstrates the topics she wrote about: women's daily lives, their relationships and rituals. She focused on the beauty of women and proclaimed her love for girls.

Certain works have established historical or artistic importance, and the world of lesbian fiction continues to grow and change as time goes on. Until recently, contemporary lesbian literature has been centered around several small, exclusively lesbian presses, as well as online fandoms. However, since the new millennium began, many lesbian presses have branched out to include the works of trans men and women, gay and bisexual voices, and other queer works not represented by the mainstream press. Additionally, novels with lesbian themes and characters have become more accepted in mainstream publishing.

Nineteenth Century: Forerunners

In the early nineteenth century, Chinese poet Wu Tsao gained popularity for her lesbian love poems. Her songs, according to poet Kenneth Rexroth, were "sung all over China".

Though lesbian literature had not yet evolved as a distinct genre in English in the 19th century, queer female writers like the essayist and supernatural fiction writer Vernon Lee sometimes hinted at lesbian subtexts in their work or, like Lee's lover Amy Levy, wrote love poems to women using the voice of a heterosexual man. Others wrote, but kept their writing secret. Beginning in 1806, English landowner and mountaineer Ann Lister kept extensive diaries for thirty four years which included details of her lesbian relationships and seductions, with the lesbian sections written in secret code. The diaries were not published until the 1980s. . In 2010, they were the basis for a BBC television production, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister.

Twenty-first century writer and editor Susan Koppelman compiled an anthology called: "Two Friends and Other Nineteenth Century American lesbian stories" which included stories by Constance Fenimore Woolson, Octave Thanet, Mary E. Wilkins, Kate Chopin and Sarah Orne Jewett that were originally published in periodicals of their time. Of these stories, which range from the 'explicit' to the 'referentially' lesbian, Koppelman said, `I recognize these stories as stories about women loving women in the variety of romantic ways that we wouldn't even have to struggle to define if we were talking about men and women loving each other.

Modern History

See also: American lesbian literature in the early 20th century

1900-1950: Beginnings

The first novel in the English language recognised as having a lesbian theme is Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness (1928), which a British court found obscene because it defended "unnatural practices between women". The book was banned in Britain for decades; this is in the context of the similar censorship of Lady Chatterley's Lover, which also had a theme of transgressive female sexuality, albeit heterosexual. In the United States The Well of Loneliness survived legal challenges in New York and the Customs Court.

In 1923, Elsa Gidlow, born in England, published the first volume of openly lesbian love poetry in the United States, titled "On A Grey Thread."

In the early 20th century, an increasingly visible lesbian community in Paris which centered on literary salons hosted by French lesbians as well as expatriates like Nathalie Barney and Gertrude Stein produced lesbian-themed works in French and English, including Nightwood, by Djuna Barnes, "Idyll Saphique", by Liane de Pougy, poetry by Renee Vivien, Barney's own epigrams, poetry and several works by Stein. Radclyffe Hall also spent time in Paris at Barney's salon, and modeled one of her characters in the Well of Loneliness after her.

Japanese writer Nobuko Yoshiya was an important early 20th century author of stories about intense romance between young women, though her writing was accepted in mainstream culture because none of the relationships were consummated.

Virginia Woolf's 1928 novel of a high-spirited gender-bending poet who lives for centuries, Orlando, which was said to be based on her lover, Vita Sackville West, was re-examined in the 1970s as a 'subversive' lesbian text.

Most American literature of the 1930s, 40s, and early 50s presented lesbian life as tragedy, ending with either the suicide of the lesbian character or her conversion to heterosexuality. This was required so that the authorities did not declare the literature obscene. For example, The Stone Wall, a lesbian autobiography with an unhappy ending, was published in 1930 under the pseudonym Mary Casal. It was one of the first lesbian autobiographies. Yet as early as 1939, Frances V. Rummell, an educator and a teacher of French at Stephens College, published the first explicitly lesbian autobiography in which two women end up happily together, titled Diana: A Strange Autobiography. This autobiography was published with a note saying, "The publishers wish it expressly understood that this is a true story, the first of its kind ever offered to the general reading public" However, literary critics have since called the autobiography 'fictional'.

Jane Bowles' only novel, Two Serious Ladies, published in 1943, told the story of a romance between an upper class woman and a prostitute in a run-down Panamanian port town.

1950 to 1970: Pulp fiction and beyond

Lesbian fiction in English saw a huge explosion in interest with the advent of the dime-store or pulp fiction novel. Lesbian pulp fiction became its own distinct category of fiction in the 1950s and 60's, although a significant number of authors of this genre were men using either a male or female pen name. One notable female author of lesbian pulp fiction, who came out later in life as a lesbian, was Ann Bannon, who created the Beebo Brinker series. Patricia Highsmith's "The Price of Salt", notable for its relatively happy ending, was turned down by several mainstream publishers before it was published as pulp fiction. It was made into a 2015 film, Carol. Also in the 1950s, parts of French author Violette leDuc 's novel Ravages were censored because they contained explicit lesbian passages. The deleted passages were published in the 1960s as Therese and Isabelle, which was made into a 1968 film.

Jane Rule's Desert of the Heart was able to break out of the pulp fiction category when it was published by Macmillan as a hardback in 1964. Several publishers turned it down beforehand however, with one telling Rule, "If this book isn't pornographic, what's the point of printing it? ... if you can write in the dirty parts we'll take it but otherwise no". The book was adapted into the film Desert Hearts in 1985.

When publishing her novel Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing in 1965, the novelist May Sarton feared that writing openly about lesbianism would lead to a diminution of the previously established value of her work. "The fear of homosexuality is so great that it took courage to write Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing," she said, "to write a novel about a woman homosexual who is not a sex maniac, a drunkard, a drug-taker, or in any way repulsive, to portray a homosexual who is neither pitiable nor disgusting, without sentimentality ..."

The first English contemporary novelist to come out as a lesbian was Maureen Duffy, whose 1966 book Microcosm, explored the subcultures of lesbian bars.

1970 to present: Second wave feminism, mainstream acceptance, and diversification

The feminist movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s saw the development of a more politicized voice in lesbian literature and more mainstream acceptance of lesbian-themed literature that moved away from the 'tragic lesbian' theme that had dominated earlier works. A pioneering autobiographical novel of this era was the picaresque Rubyfruit Jungle (1973), by Rita Mae Brown, which became a national best-seller. Jill Johnston's 1973 Lesbian Nation argued for Lesbian Separatism. In the 1970s, more voices of American lesbians of color began to be heard, including works by Audre Lorde, Jewelle Gomez, Paula Gunn Allen Cherrie Moraga, and Gloria Anzaldua. In France, Monique Wittig published Les Guerilleres, (The Women Warriors) which envisioned a lesbian-dominated world. Similarly, Joanna Russ's novel The Female Man contains an alternative universe inhabited solely by lesbians. The 1970s also saw the advent of feminist and LGBT publishing houses and literary magazines like Sinister Wisdom and Conditions which published lesbian works. Adrienne Rich and Judy Grahn were important poets and essayists of the era. Patience and Sarah (1969–71) examined the historical confines of a romance between two 19th century women in a Boston Marriage.

After the birth of an explicitly gay and lesbian literature in the 1970s, the following decades saw a tremendous rise in its production. While gay male novels had more cross-over appeal and often became mid-list sellers in mainstream publishing houses, lesbian literature, depending on smaller presses, developed smaller but 'respectable' audiences. In the 1980s, with the advent of sex-positive feminism, a few lesbian literary magazines began to specialize in more explicitly erotic work, such as "On Our Backs", a satirical reference to the feminist 1970's magazine, "Off Our Backs." The 1988 founding of the Lambda Literary Award, with several lesbian categories, helped increase the visibility of LGBT literature. In the 80s and 90s, lesbian literature diversified into genre literature, including fantasy, mystery, science fiction, romance, graphic novels, and young adult.

The influence of late twentieth century feminism and greater acceptance of LGBT work was also felt in Mexico, with the emergence of lesbian poets Nancy Cardenas, Magaly Alabau, Mercedes Roffe, and others. In Argentina and Uruguay, Alejandra Pizarnik and Cristina Peri Rossi combined lesbian eroticism with artistic and sociopolitical concerns in their work.

In Asia, Singaporean playwright Eleanor Wong and Taiwanese writer Qiu Miaojin have written about lesbian relationships, as have Chinese writers Lin Bai and Chen Ran. Spinning Tropics by Aska Mochizuki -Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari Kawabata, Quicksand (卍 Manji) by Junichiro Tanizaki and Real World by Natsuo Kirino are all novels that explore lesbian love in Japan. Indian novelist Abha Dawesar's 2006 Babyji won a Stonewall Award and the Lambda Award.

In the 21st century, lesbian literature has emerged as a genre in Arabic speaking countries, with some novels, like Ana Hiya Anti (I Am You) by Elham Mansour, achieving best-seller status. This century has also brought more attention to African literary works and authors, such as Cameroonian novelist Frieda Ekotto and Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aido.

Meanwhile, English language novels which include lesbian characters or relationships have continued to garner national awards and mainstream critical acclaim, like Alice Walker's The Color Purple (1982), Dorothy Allison's Bastard out of Carolina (1992), Michael Cunningham's The Hours (1998), Sarah Waters' Fingersmith (2002) and Carolyn Parkhurst's 2006 novel Lost and Found.

As literature including lesbian characters and relationships has become more accepted in mainstream Western society, some writers and literary critics have questioned why there needs to be a separate category for lesbian literature at all. "I've never understood why straight fiction is supposed to be for everyone, but anything with a gay character or that includes gay experience is only for queers," said Jeanette Winterson, author of the best-selling Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. (1985). Others have stressed the continuing need for LGBT-themed literature, especially for younger LGBT readers.

1970s

In Ruby (1976) by Rosa Guy, the main character is a girl from the West Indies. The novel tells the story of her relationship with another girl. Other young adult novels with lesbian characters and themes that were published during this time include Sandra Scoppettone's Happy Endings Are All Alike (1978). According to the author, it "barely got reviewed and when it did it wasn't good," unlike Scoppettone's novel about gay boys, which was better received.

Frequent themes in books published during the 1970s are that homosexuality is a "phase," or that there are no "happy endings" for gay people, and that they generally lead a difficult life.

The School Library Journal reported:

Throughout the 1970s, there was, on average, a single young adult title per year dealing with gay issues. Although many of these early books were well written — and well reviewed — gay characters were at best a sidekick or foil for the straight protagonist and at worst a victim who would face violence, injury, or death (fatal traffic accidents were commonplace). Young protagonists who worried that they might be gay would invariably conclude that their same-sex attraction was simply a temporary stage in the journey toward heterosexual adulthood.

Judy Blume has been cited as a catalyst in the 1970s for an increase in inclusion of "taboo" topics in children's literature, which include homosexuality.

1980s

Nancy Garden's Annie on My Mind, published in 1982, tells the story of two high school girls who fall in love. The novel, which has never been out of print, was a step forward for homosexuality in young adult literature. It was published in hardback and by a major press. In the book, homosexuality is seen as something permanent and to be explored, not "fixed."

In Kansas, a minister led a public burning of Annie on My Mind following a controversy after it was donated to a school library.

1990s

During this decade the number of lesbian-themed young adult novels published rose. Nancy Garden published two novels with lesbian protagonists, Lark in the Morning (1991) and Good Moon Rising, and received positive sales and reviews. In 1994, M.E. Kerr published Deliver Us From Evie, about a boy with a lesbian sister, which was well received by the public. Other books published during this decade include Dive by Stacey Donovan (1996), The Necessary Hunger (1997) by Nina Revoyr, The House You Pass On the Way (1997) by Jacqueline Woodson, Girl Walking Backwards, (1998) by Bett Williams, who intended the novel for an adult audience though it was popular among teens, Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger (1999) and Dare Truth or Promise (1999) by Paula Boock.

2000s

The 1990s represented a turning point for young adult novels that explored lesbian issues, and since 2000, a flood of such books has reached the market. The public attitude towards lesbian themes in young adult literature has grown more accepting.

In 2000, the School Library Journal included Annie on My Mind in its list of the top 100 most influential books of the century.

In the past, most books portrayed gay people as "living isolated lives, out of context with the reality of an amazingly active community." Today books also show gay characters not as stigmatized and separate.

A popular young adult novel of 2012, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, tells the story of a 12 year old girl who is sent to a de-gaying camp in Montana. In 2016, it was scheduled to be made into a film.

There are fewer books about female homosexuality than male homosexuality, and even fewer books on bisexuality are published. Despite the fact that availability of books with teen lesbian and bisexual themes has increased since the 1960s, books with non-white characters are still difficult to find.

Publishers

The first lesbian publisher devoted to publishing lesbian and feminist books was Naiad Press, which published the seminal lesbian romance novel Curious Wine by Katherine V. Forrest and many other books. The press closed in 2003 after 31 years. Co-founder Barbara Grier handed off her books and operation to a newly established press, Bella Books which is still going strong today. Other early publishers include Spinsters Ink, Rising Tide Press, Crossing Press, Seal Press , Kitchen Table Press, and New Victoria. In many cases, these presses were operated by authors who also published with the press, such as Barbara Wilson at Seal Press which became part of the mainstream company, Avalon, and Joan Drury at Spinsters Ink, which has been sold a couple of times and now is part of the Bella Books organization.

The current largest publishers of lesbian fiction are Bella Books, Bold Strokes Books, and Regal Crest Enterprises. Bella Books, established in 2001, acquired the Naiad backlist, including the majority of works by Jane Rule and all the works of Karin Kallmaker. Their catalog includes over 300 titles of lesbian romance, lesbian mystery and erotica. Bold Strokes Books established in 2005, publishes lesbian and gay male mystery, thrillers, sci-fi, adventure, and other LGBT genre books. Their catalog includes 130 titles. Regal Crest Enterprises, established in 1999, has a catalog currently exceeding 150 works, and they publish lesbian romance, lesbian mystery, some erotica, sci-fi, fantasy, and sagas. Allyson Books specializes in LGBT authors and has a number of lesbian titles.

Smaller publishers of exclusively lesbian fiction include Bedazzled Ink, Bywater Books, Intaglio Publications, Sapphire Books Publishing, Supposed Crimes, and Ylva Publishing. Some women's presses also produce lesbian fiction, such as Firebrand Books and Virago Press.