Gay and Lesbian Criticism (+ Queere Theory)

1. Some historical background

• The first explicit expressions of a gender theory occurred during the classical era

• In early Greek poetry, one finds an idealization of the beauty of youth, with an implicit theory of intergenerational desire embedded therein that allows for erotic attachment between adult men and boys or adolescents

• Gay, Lesbian and Queer Criticism examines critically the identity politics of sexuality, the ways in which sexuality and sexual difference play with, within, and against the very conditions of meaning that allow a word to be uttered

2. Representatives

• Henry James

• Judy Grahn

• Eve Sedgwick

3. Related terms

• Homophobia/ homophobic reading (a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer people- seen eg. in Henry James, The Bostonians)

• Heterosexuality (consists of sexual behavior, practices, and identity predicated on a primary or exclusive preference or desire for the opposite sex)

• Heterocentrism (presumption that everyone is heterosexual or that opposite-sex attractions and relationships are the only norm)

• Biological essentialism (the idea that a fixed segment of the population is naturally gay, just as the rest of the population is naturally heterosexual

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