On Sexuality and Power

Alan Sinfield

Published by Columbia University Press 2004

On Sexuality and Power

Alan Sinfield

In the series Between Men-Between Women: Lesbian and Gay Studies

https://doi.org/10.7312/sinf13408

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book argues that hierarchies in interpersonal relations are inextricably linked to the main power differentials of our social and political life (gender, class, age, and race); therefore it is not surprising that they govern our psychic lives. Recent writing enables an exploration of their positive potential, especially in fantasy, as well as their danger. The book focuses on the writing of the last thirty years, revisiting also Whitman, Wilde, Mann, Forster, and Genet, and reassessing the very idea of a gay canon.

It is widely supposed that the most suitable partner will be someone very much like oneself; gay fiction and cinema are often organized around this assumption. Nonetheless, power differentials are remarkably persistent—as well as sexy. What are the personal and political implications of this insight?

Sinfield argues that hierarchies in interpersonal relations are continuous with the main power differentials of our social and political life (gender, class, age, and race); therefore it is not surprising that they govern our psychic lives. Recent writing enables an exploration of their positive potential, especially in fantasy, as well as their danger.

On Sexuality and Power focuses on the writing of the last thirty years, revisiting also Whitman, Wilde, Mann, Forster, and Genet, and reassessing the very idea of a gay canon.

Author / Editor information

Alan Sinfield teaches in the English Department at Sussex University. He is the author of Out on Stage: Lesbian and Gay Theatre in the Twentieth Century and The Wilde Century: Effeminacy, Oscar Wilde, and the Queer Moment, among other books. He lives in Brighton, UK.

Reviews

This interdisciplinary book makes a valuable contribution to gay studies...Essential.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Taxonomies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
3. Fantasy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	32
4. Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	54
5. Gender Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	84
6. Age Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
7. Class Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
8. Race Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	160
9. Fiction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
Backmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 224

eBook

Published: December 22, 2004
ISBN: 9780231508667