Overview

This is the first edited collection of essays on the nineteenth-century diarist Anne Lister. Now recognized as a UNESCO world heritage document, Lister's five-million-word diaries are paradigm-shifting in terms of their range of material, from social commentary and politics to breath-taking travel accounts. However, they have become most well-known for their explicit descriptions of same-sex practices, written in code and constituting a significant portion of their content. The essays here address the variety and interdisciplinarity of the diaries: Lister's negotiations with her own 'odd' identity, her multiple same-sex relationships, her involvement in politics and her lifelong thirst for knowledge. It also addresses Lister studies in popular culture through the successful Gentleman Jack BBC-HBO series, including an interview with Sally Wainwright and foreword by author Emma Donoghue. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.

Full Product Details

Author:   Caroline Gonda (St Catharine's College, Cambridge) ,  Chris Roulston (University of Western Ontario)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.440kg
ISBN:  

9781009280747

ISBN 10:   1009280740
Pages:   300
Publication Date:   27 February 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Introduction Chris Roulston; 1. Caroline Gonda in conversation with Helena Whitbread; Part I. Nature was in an Odd Freak When She Made Me: Lister, Sexuality, Gender and Natural History: 2. A regular oddity: natural history and Anne Lister's Queer theory of tradition Laurie Shannon; 3. Anne Lister's search for the anatomy of sex Anna Clark; Part II. My Spirit's Oil: Lister Reading, Lister Writing: 4. My use of the word love: lister, language and the dictionary Stephen Turton; 5. Self-conscious closeting and paradoxical writing in Anne Lister's diaries Caroline Baylis-Green; Part III. Born at Halifax: Lister's Politics, Local and Global: 6. Anne Lister's politics Susan S. Lanser; 7. Building castles in the air: Anne Lister and associational life Cassandra Ulph; 8. Anne Lister's home Angela Clare; Part IV. Curious Scenes: Lister's Travels: 9. The art of travelling requires an apprenticeship: Anne Lister's diaries and travel Kirsty McHugh; 10. Traveling in the caucasus, traveling in time: decoding biography as genre Angela Steidele; Part V. I Beg to be Remembered: Lister, Public History and Popular Culture: 11. Labels, plaques and identity categories: finding the words for Anne Lister Caroline Gonda; 12. From Anne Lister to gentleman Jack: queer temporality, fandom and the gains and losses of adaptation Chris Roulston; 13. Emma Donoghue in Conversation with Sally Wainwright; Bibliography; Index.

Reviews

'This is the smart, timely, interdisciplinary book that Anne Lister deserves. The range of topics and approaches by the authors is well-suited to their dynamic subject, who herself was never contained by the norms of her day. An essential volume of new essays about the most prolific diarist and chronicler of lesbian love of her time.' Jen Manion, Amherst College 'Anne Lister was an aristocratic woman who embraced her masculinity, flirted and more with women in her orbit and kept coded diaries her whole life. These diaries are long overdue for sustained analysis. This collection of essays promises to remedy what has been an overlooked treasure trove of information about sex and intimacies between elite women in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and they decode the life, the loves, the genders and the social worlds of the inventive and marvelous Anne Lister.' Jack Halberstam, author of Female Masculinity, Duke University Press

Author Information

Caroline Gonda is College Associate Professor and Director of Studies in English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. She was the first person appointed to the post of LGBTQ+ Fellow at a Cambridge College. With John Beynon, she co-edited the pioneering collection Lesbian Dames: Sapphism in the Long Eighteenth Century (2010). She writes and teaches on literature, gender and sexuality, particularly lesbian narrative and queer reception. Chris Roulston is Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies and French Studies at the University of Western Ontario. She has been a leading Lister scholar for the last decade. Her essays on Lister's relationship with Eliza Raine, classical literature, queer sexuality, marriage and Gentleman Jack have appeared in Eighteenth-Century Studies (2022), the Journal of Lesbian Studies (2013, 2022), and the Journal of the History of Sexuality (2021).

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