History's Queer Stories: Retrieving and Navigating Homosexuality in British Fiction about the Second World War PDF
Preview History's Queer Stories: Retrieving and Navigating Homosexuality in British Fiction about the Second World War
Natalie Marena Nobitz History’s Queer Stories Queer Studies | Volume 19 Natalie Marena Nobitz, born in 1989, works in the office for equal opportunities at the University of Hagen, Germany, and teaches Literary Studies and Gender Studies at the University of Kiel, Germany. Natalie Marena Nobitz History’s Queer Stories Retrieving and Navigating Homosexuality in British Fiction about the Second World War Funded by the State graduate scholarship Schleswig-Holstein. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Na- tionalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de © 2018 transcript Verlag, Bielefeld Cover layout: Maria Arndt, Bielefeld Cover illustration: Natalie Marena Nobitz Printed by Majuskel Medienproduktion GmbH, Wetzlar Print-ISBN 978-3-8376-4543-9 PDF-ISBN 978-3-8394-4543-3 https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839445433 Contents Introduction | 11 Quentin Crisp’s War | 11 Researching the War | 18 Stonewall and Gay Liberation | 38 Queering the Past | 49 Feminist Narrative Theory: Approach and Outline | 53 Re-Negotiating the Homosexual Problem Novel | 63 Engaging with the Literary Past | 63 Medicalization of Homosexuality: Literary Self-Regulation | 71 The Hypocrisy of Censorship | 83 Resisting Blackmail – Resisting Stigmatisation | 97 Fashioning Homosexual Relationships | 109 The Invisible Struggle: Refurbishing a Ghostly Past | 124 Nation, Masculinity and War | 135 Literature and National Propaganda | 135 One Nation Fighting a People’s War? | 146 Outsiders Inside: Imprisoning Resistance | 160 Nationalism and Religion | 167 Performances of Military Masculinities | 179 Disintegration of the Unknown Soldier Myth | 198 Queering Space, Body and Time | 207 Queer Fiction – Queer Concepts | 207 Body Space – Destabilising Gender | 216 Queering the Battlefield | 231 Challenging the Parental Home | 240 The Public Home – The Private Street: Inversion of Concepts | 253 Killing the Child as a Token of Futurity | 260 Resisting Closure | 267 Bibliography | 289 Index | 307 Acknowledgements It was in 2013 when I first learned about Michel Foucault’s History of Sexuality, about Judith Butler’s theory on gender performativity and when I began to grasp the vast and controversial landscape of gender studies. Thenceforth I was hooked. I devoured not only theories, trying to catch up on a century of engaging thoughts, but also novels that had not been part of any standardised reading list I had thus far encountered. Sarah Waters’ historical novels particularly caught my attention and I began to wonder how a history of silence and invisibility is re- trieved and represented by a modern novelist whose own lived experiences are so vastly different from her characters and settings. This book is the result of my journey to find answers to this and other ques- tions regarding the development of a queer literary history as well as my attempt to broaden dominant knowledge of war, sexuality and gender roles. I could not have completed my work without the encouragement of Prof. Dr. Anna- Margaretha Horatschek who generously offered guidance and advice whenever needed. I also want to thank Laura Hair whose incredible patience and construc- tive criticism enabled me to continue working well beyond my limits. Whilst professional advice helps the shaping of one’s work, emotional guidance keeps the spirit sound. I therefore want to thank my parents without whom I could not have written a single word: Ihr habt immer an mich geglaubt. Danke. Jan, für dich – mit dir. List of Abbreviations LD Walter Baxter, Look Down in Mercy, [1951], (Virginia: Valancourt Books, 2014) MD Adam Fitzroy, Make Do and Mend (UK: Manifold Press, 2012) TC Mary Renault, The Charioteer, [1953], (New York: Vintage Books, 2003) TN Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant, [1968], (London: Harper Perennial, 2007) TNW Sarah Waters, The Night Watch (London: Virago, 2006) TW Radclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness, [1928], (New York: Anchor Books, 1990) WL Han Suyin, Winter Love, [1962], (London: Virago Press, 1994) A.R.P. Air Raid Precautions BBC British Broadcasting Corporation Conshie/ Conchie Conscientious objector DSO Medal Distinguished Service Order Medal GLF Gay Liberation Front LGBTQI Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Queer, Intersectional OED Oxford English Dictionary RAF Royal Air Force Wren/ WRNS Women’s Royal Naval Service
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