Historical Dictionary of Lesbian Literature - Scarecrow Press

Preface
To take on a task with the title Historical Dictionary of Lesbian Literature
is to confront, at once, one’s own inadequacy. In a world where
identities are both infinitely powerful and infinitely unstable, it seems
arrogant to presume to define such a category. Nevertheless ideas of
what it means to be lesbian, and therefore what it means for a woman
to master her own sexuality within narrative, have evolved within particular
strands of literature over the past few hundred years. My research
in other areas has taught me that a category thought of as lesbian
literature informed the identifications, and the material, political and
sexual lives of many thousands of women. Therefore the category is as
relevant as it is indefinable. I have done my humble best to give an idea
of the development of the lesbian in literature, and of the cultural influences
which informed that development. My hope is that this work will
aid further, more in-depth study.
This dictionary has been created with the instability of the lesbian
identity in mind. The list of its entries is not restricted by any strict notions
of what a lesbian might be. Rather, it is hoped that the entries,
taken together, will provide an idea of the factors that have influenced
the development of the lesbian identity as an interaction between
readers and writers of all kinds of literature—poetic, fictional, pornographic
and scientific. A number of the most important critical and
theoretical concepts that inform lesbian literary theory are also included.
Thus, the dictionary could be used as a starting point for both
historical and theoretical explorations of lesbian literature. I have focused
primarily on English-language literature. French literary works
and German scientific works have had such an impact cross-culturally
that many are included here. A strong tradition of South Asian lesbian
literature exists and continues to grow, in English and in indigenous
languages. I have done my best to give some idea of the scope of this
xi