TY - BOOK ID - 77902016 TI - Willa Cather : queering America PY - 1999 SN - 1282871846 9786612871849 0231500270 9780231500272 9781282871847 9780231113250 0231113250 6612871849 0231113242 9780231113243 PB - New York Columbia University Press DB - UniCat KW - Cather, Willa, 1873-1947. KW - Feminism and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century. KW - Homosexuality and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century. KW - Lesbians -- United States -- Intellectual life. KW - Love-letters -- History. KW - Sexual orientation in literature. KW - Women and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century. KW - Homosexuality and literature KW - Feminism and literature KW - Women and literature KW - Lesbians KW - Love-letters KW - Sexual orientation in literature KW - American Literature KW - English KW - Languages & Literatures KW - Female gays KW - Female homosexuals KW - Gay females KW - Gay women KW - Gayelles KW - Gays, Female KW - Homosexuals, Female KW - Lesbian women KW - Sapphists KW - Women, Gay KW - Women homosexuals KW - Gays KW - Women KW - History KW - Intellectual life KW - History and criticism KW - Cather, Willa, KW - Katėr, Villa, KW - Cather, Willa Sibert, KW - Cather, Wilella, KW - Catherová, Willa, KW - קאתר, וילה, KW - Kāz̲ar, Vīlā, KW - Kāz̲ir, Vīlā, KW - کاذر، ويلا KW - Sociology of the family. Sociology of sexuality KW - Thematology KW - Cather, Willa KW - United States KW - United States of America KW - Homosexuality KW - LGBTQIA literature KW - Writers KW - Book UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:77902016 AB - Although it has been proven posthumously by scholars that Willa Cather had lesbian relationships, she did not openly celebrate lesbian desire, and even today is sometimes described as homophobic and misogynistic. What, then, can a reassessment of this contentious first lady of American letters add to an understanding of the gay identities that have emerged in America over the past century? As Marilee Lindemann shows in this study of the novelist's life and work, Cather's sexual coming-of-age occurred at a time when a cultural transition was recasting love between women as sexual deviance rather than romantic friendship. At the same time, the very identity of "America" was characterized by great instability as the United States emerged as a modern industrial nation and imperial power. Indeed, both terms, "queer" and "America," achieved fresh ideological potency at the turn of the century. Willa Cather: Queering America is an enlightening unpacking of Cather's writings, from her controversial love letters of the 1890s--in which "queer" is employed to denote sexual deviance--to her epic novels, short stories, and critical writings. Lindemann points to the "queer" qualities of Cather's fiction--rebellion against traditional fictional form, with sometimes unlikable characters, lack of emphasis on heroic action, and lack of engagement in the drama of heterosexual desire. ER -