This seminar focuses on the rich and strange archive of modern lesbian literature of the twentieth century. We begin with the “mother” of Sapphic Modernism, Sappho herself, and continue through the Interwar Era with the High Modernism of Virginia Woolf, the Black Modernism of Nella Larsen, the Parisian “Lost Generation” of Gertrude Stein, and the Late Modernism of Djuna Barnes. After an interlude during the Second World War, with the poetry of H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), we turn to the 1950s and the beginning of the so-called American Century, with the postwar pulp and noir writings of Ann Bannon and Patricia Highsmith. We continue into the 1960s, with the “toward Stonewall” lesbian novel Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule, and end with Adrienne Rich in the post–“Stonewall” Era. Fulfills the Diversity of Literatures in English requirement.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 15

Prerequisites: Open to all students who have taken two literature courses in the department, at least one of which must be 200 level, or by permission of the instructor to other qualified students.

Instructor: González

Distribution Requirements: LL - Language and Literature

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered

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