Lesbian Utopics

225 Pages·1994·13.735 MB·English

by  Annamarie Jagose

LESBIAN UTOPICS

LESBIAN UTOPICS
Annamarie
Jagose
~ ~ ~~o~~!;n~~~up
NEW YORK AND LONDON
Published in 1994 by
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
711 Third Avenue
New York, NY10017
Published in Great Britain in 1994 by
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
2 Park Square
Milton Park, Abingdon
Oxon OX14 4RN
Copyright © 1994 by Roudedge
Chapter 2, Chapter 6, and part of Chapter 1 previously appeared in, respectively, Genders (Spring
1992), published by the University of Texas Press, Feminism and the Politics of Difference, Sneja
Gunew and Anna Yeatman eds. (Allen & Unwin, 1993), and The journal of the History of Sexuality
(October 1993), published by the University of Chicago Press. The author gratefully acknowledges
their permission to reprint these pieces, in revised form, in this volume.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photo-
copying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publications Data
j agose, Annamarie.
Lesbian utopics I Annamarie )agose.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0--415-91018-3. - ISBN 0--415-91019-6
1. Lesbianism. 2. Feminism. 3. Critical theory. 4. Feminist theory I. Tide.
HQ75.5.J34 1994
305.48'9664-dc20 94-27402
CIP
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
1 Lesbians Are Elsewhere
2 Remedy and Poison 25
lrigaray and the Lesbian Body
3 Space, Skin, Spiral 43
The Aerial Letter and its Holographic Projection
4 Playing with the Closet 69
Jeux d'occultation and
Love, Death, and the Changing of the Seasons
5 'The Heart of the Law" 97
Genre, Sexual Exchange
and the Proper Name in Working Hot
6 Slash and Suture 137
The Border's Figuration of
Colonialism, Phallocentrism, and Homophobia
in Borderlands! La Frontera: The New Mestiza
7 Cindy Crawford Concludes 159
Notes 165
Works Cited 199
Index 211

Acknowledgements
"Is THE BEGINNING OF A GIVEN WORK ITS REAL
BEGINNING;' asks Edward Said, "or is there some
other, secret point that more authentically starts
the work off?''1 These days when poststructuralist
interrogations of origin have problematized
notions of priority and precedence, there seems
little possibility that the "beginning" of a given
work might be its "real" beginning. There is no
secret that this work has its origins in my doctoral
dissertation. Whatever beginnings might be
claimed-or disclaimed-as marking my point
of origin, one thing is certain: these words
initially encountered by the reader are the final
moments of a project made possible-and in
some cases, bearable-by the following to whose
criticism, generosity, and support I remain
indebted: Marion Campbell, Kate Cummings,
Teresa de Lauretis, Sneja Gunew, Linda Hardy,
Trish Luker, Brian Opie, and Ken Ruthven.

DURING THE COURSE OF WRITING LESBIAN UTOPICS,
I visited my father in hospital. Lying in bed, he is
in the mood to talk. "I am old now," he says,
"but I have had a good life. I am so proud of my
children. When anyone asks me I say: 'Pheroze
is a lawyer. Maki is a doctor. Una is a lawyer.
Fiona is in her first year at university':' He deliv-
ers this short speech like a press statement. He
has missed listing my name, which should be
third in the sequence; he has forgotten to say
why he is proud of me. "What about me, Dad?
What do you say about me?" He seems
surprised to see me still at the side of his bed.
"Ah you, I say you are most beautiful;' he says. I
persist. "But what do I do?" "I don't know;' he
says. Then, holding up one hand to defend
himself against any possible explanation, "I
have it written down somewhere." He knits his
fingers together across his chest, closes his eyes.
He is tired now. No more talking.