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Queer spaces are crucial for the construction of LGBTQ+ communities, as they constitute places where queer subjects can create political, social, and affective alliances. Júlia Braga Neves shows how these spaces are pivotal for the representation of queer history in the fictional works by the British authors Sarah Waters and Alan Hollinghurst, whose characters and plots are articulated through and within London's sexual geographies. Considering the intersection between gender, sexuality, and class, this study engages with spatial, queer, feminist, and Marxist theories as a means to reflect on London, queer historiography, and the relationship between subject and urban space.

Queer theory. --- Alan Hollinghurst. --- British Studies. --- Cultural History. --- Gender. --- Literary Studies. --- Literature. --- Queer Historiography. --- Queer Spaces. --- Queer Theory. --- Sarah Waters. --- Sexuality.

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This work considers how Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace and Sarah Waters’ Affinity investigate the role of the occult sciences and more particularly the figure of the spectral double as ways for the female characters to deconstruct the notion of womanhood. This paper first provides an overview of how womanhood was defined in the Victorian period: a concept based on social and biological determinism which enclosed women within labels such as the dichotomy that distinguishes between the “angel of the house” and the “demon in disguise”, but also the notion of “hysteria”. Then, this paper focuses on the use of typically feminine forms of expression, i.e. the writing of a diary and needlework, for the female protagonists to empower themselves. Moreover, the female characters also take on masculine conventions to reach a larger audience and to legitimate their stories. Lastly, this work examines how the occult during the Victorian period played an important role to question gender politics, especially with the figure of the spectral double. In both novels, Atwood and Waters feature spectral doubles which act as the characters’ asserted selves and allow them to question different aspects of womanhood and manhood.

Womanhood --- Spectral Double --- Neo-Victorianism --- Gothic --- Margaret Atwood --- Alias Grace --- Sarah Waters --- Affinity --- Gender politics --- Women's Studies --- Arts & sciences humaines > Littérature

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A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org. Arguing that neo-Victorian fiction enacts and celebrates cultural memory, this book uses memory discourse to position these novels as dynamic participants in the contemporary historical imaginary.

Literature - General --- Languages & Literatures --- Historical fiction, English --- English fiction --- History in literature. --- Collective memory in literature. --- Literature and history --- History and criticism. --- History --- Great Britain --- Historiography. --- History and literature --- History and poetry --- Poetry and history --- English literature --- Literature. --- Culture --- Literature --- Literature, Modern --- Fiction. --- European literature. --- British literature. --- British and Irish Literature. --- Literary Theory. --- Cultural Theory. --- Twentieth-Century Literature. --- European Literature. --- Study and teaching. --- Philosophy. --- 20th century. --- European literature --- Fiction --- Metafiction --- Novellas (Short novels) --- Novels --- Stories --- Novelists --- Literature and philosophy --- Philosophy and literature --- Cultural studies --- Belles-lettres --- Western literature (Western countries) --- World literature --- Philology --- Authors --- Authorship --- Philosophy --- Theory --- Literature-Philosophy. --- Culture-Study and teaching. --- Literature, Modern-20th century. --- Literature—Philosophy. --- Culture—Study and teaching. --- Literature, Modern—20th century. --- victoriant --- victoriaans --- historical fiction --- sarah waters --- a.s. byatt --- historische fictie --- Lesbian --- Neo-Victorian --- Photography --- Postmodernism