Overview

With hair slicked back and shirt collar framing her young patrician face, Katharine Hepburn's image in the 1935 film Sylvia Scarlett was seen by many as a ""lesbian"" representation. Yet, Amy Villarejo argues, there is no final ground upon which to explain why that image of Hepburn signifies lesbian or why such a cross-dressing Hollywood fantasy edges into collective consciousness as a ""lesbian"" narrative. Investigating what allows viewers to make an image or narrative work as ""lesbian,"" Villarejo presents a theoretical exploration of lesbian visibility. Focusing on images of ""the lesbian"" in film, she analyzes what these representations contain and their limits. She combines Marxist theories of value with poststructuralist insights to argue that lesbian visibility operates simultaneously as an achievement and a ruse, a possibility for building a new visual politics and a way of rendering static and contained what lesbian might mean. Integrating cinema studies, queer and feminist theory, and cultural studies, Villarejo illuminates the contexts within which the lesbian is rendered visible.Toward that end, she analyzes key portrayals of the lesbian in public culture, particularly in documentary film. She considers a range of films--from documentaries about Cuba, Shanghai and lesbian pulp fiction to The Brandon Teena Story, and, in doing so, brings to light a nuanced economy of value and desire.

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9780822331926

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Reviews

[T]he reader of Lesbian Rule is left with as many questions as answers, but they are questions that inspire readers to continue Villarejo's examination of popular imagery. --On Campus With Women [A]n erudite and complicated book... --Monica B. Pearl, GLQ Lesbian Rule [is] a book which retains trans-regional relevance. Villarejo provides real tools with which we can investigate the cinematic lesbian as she appears, or indeed, does not seem to appear, in the lounge rooms, the archives and at the festivals of those of us as far away as Australia. -- Megan Carrigy, Senses of Cinema

Lesbian Rule is a challenging yet rewarding book. Its insights are original, provocative, and far-reaching. -Steven Cohan, author of Masked Men: Masculinity and the Movies in the Fifties Once you read Amy Villarejo's ingenious recontextualizations of the lesbian presence in documentary film, lesbian visibility will never look the same again. Studded with brilliant theoretical insights about fetishism, archives, diaspora, and more, Lesbian Rule's surprising juxtapositions make even the most obscure cultural object 'shimmer with history.' Best of all is the dreamy prose-witty, elegant, and full of delight. -Ann Cvetkovich, author of An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures

""[T]he reader of Lesbian Rule is left with as many questions as answers, but they are questions that inspire readers to continue Villarejo's examination of popular imagery.""--On Campus With Women ""[A]n erudite and complicated book...""--Monica B. Pearl, GLQ ""Lesbian Rule [is] a book which retains trans-regional relevance. Villarejo provides real tools with which we can investigate the cinematic lesbian as she appears, or indeed, does not seem to appear, in the lounge rooms, the archives and at the festivals of those of us as far away as Australia.""-- Megan Carrigy, Senses of Cinema

Author Information

Amy Villarejo is Associate Professor in the Department of Theater, Film, and Dance at Cornell University. She is coauthor of Queen Christina and coeditor of Keyframes: Popular Film and Cultural Studies.

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