Queer Love in the Middle Ages

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

   PDF

2. Introduction: History of Desire, Desire for History: The Queer Cryptology Project

   • Anna Kłosowska

   Pages 1-19

3. Grail Narratives: Castration as a Thematic Site

   • Anna Kłosowska

   Pages 21-67

4. Dissection and Desire: Cross-Dressing and the Fashioning of Lesbian Identity

   • Anna Kłosowska

   Pages 69-116

5. The Place of Homoerotic Motifs in the Medieval French Canon: Discontinuities and Displacements

   • Anna Kłosowska

   Pages 117-144

6. Conclusion

   • Anna Kłosowska

   Pages 145-163

7. Back Matter

   Pages 165-195

   PDF

Queer Love in the Middle Ages points out queer themes in the works of the French canon, including Perceval , the Romance of the Rose and the Roman d'Eneas . It brings out less known works that prominently feature same-sex themes: Yde and Olive , a romance with a cross-dressed heroine who marries a princess; and many others. The book combines an interest in contemporary French theory (Kristeva, Barthes, psychoanalysis) with a close reading of medieval texts. It discusses important recent publications in pre-modern queer studies in the US. It is the first major contribution to queer studies in medieval French literature.

• history
• Middle Ages
• novel
• Queer Studies

"Anna Roberts argues persuasively that 'same-sex preference seems a rather pervasive interest' in Old French literature, and that we should begin to reread the corpus in this light. She reads one male homosexual figure, the Fisher King; one lesbian couple, Yde et Olive; and a tradition of other texts that depict same-sex preference openly. She finds novel evidence and makes novel arguments. This daring book opens new views of medieval French literature and the history of sexuality." - William D. Paden, Chair, Department of French and Italian, Northwestern University

ANNA KLOSOWSKA ROBERTS is Assistant Professor of French at Miami University, USA. She is the editor of Violence Against Women in Medieval Texts (1998), and author of numerous articles on Medieval and Renaissance French literature.

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