Queer Love in the Middle Ages

Product Description

Queer Love in the Middle Ages points out queer themes in the works of the French canon, including Perceval , the Romance of the Rose and the Roman d'Eneas . It brings out less known works that prominently feature same-sex themes: Yde and Olive , a romance with a cross-dressed heroine who marries a princess; and many others. The book combines an interest in contemporary French theory (Kristeva, Barthes, psychoanalysis) with a close reading of medieval texts. It discusses important recent publications in pre-modern queer studies in the US. It is the first major contribution to queer studies in medieval French literature.

Review

"Anna Roberts argues persuasively that 'same-sex preference seems a rather pervasive interest' in Old French literature, and that we should begin to reread the corpus in this light. She reads one male homosexual figure, the Fisher King; one lesbian couple, Yde et Olive; and a tradition of other texts that depict same-sex preference openly. She finds novel evidence and makes novel arguments. This daring book opens new views of medieval French literature and the history of sexuality." - William D. Paden, Chair, Department of French and Italian, Northwestern University

About the Author

Anna Klosowska is Associate Professor of French at Miami University.