AziraphalesBookshop

I will be contributing to one of the following during this semester:

• Bisexual politics
• Bisexual erasure
• Bisexual chic
• Media portrayals of bisexuality

One resource I find interesting in regards to negativity towards bisexuals in the LGBT community as it pertains to erasure is Nicholas A. Guittar's study of bisexuality as a transitional identity.

Annotated Source List

Theory & Analytical Frameworks

• Steven Angiledes' A History of Bisexuality delves into the reasons why bisexuality has largely been erased from the history of the study of sexuality, and uses the processes of sociological theory, queer theory, psychology and biology to demonstrate the existence of bisexuality long before it entered the contemporary world of scholarly thought. This book establishes the concept of bisexuality's presence throughout history, and greatly aids my evaluation of past literature depicting this identity.
• "The birth of the queen/the modern homosexual: historical explanations revisited" by Jan Löftström performs a similar analysis to the above source on the lack of research surrounding homosexuality, and contains a component describing the idea of homosexuality that was present in the culture of the 19th century. The latter aspect will contribute to the knowledge of terms used for non-heterosexuals in the literature from that period.
• Jenée Wilde's article "Dimensional sexuality: exploring new frameworks for bisexual desires" proposes looking the binary limiters of being exclusively heterosexual or homosexual to find one's sexual identity, and expands on the ways one aligns oneself with that identity other than just the attraction to a certain gender or genders. This theoreticla process will allow support the theme in my research that people and the characters they create can be interpreted with an "and" view of their sexuality, not simply an "or" view (men "and" women vs. men "or" women.) The explicit demonstration of "and" attraction in literature is not to be discounted as only heterosexual or homosexual.
• "Queering Queer Theory, or Why Bisexuality Matters" evaluates bisexuality from the contexts of history, contemporary culture, and appearances in literature to assert that while bisexuality and sexual identities outside the hetero/homosexual binary may be existent in reality, the portrayal and continued delegitimization of these identities in media and queer theory does harm to the popular belief in their validity. The statement of the importance of accurate portrayals of bisexuality (and examples of its presence in literature) are the basis of my addition to the Bisexual erasure article.

Examples in 19th Century Literature

• "Bitches, mollies, & tommies: Byron, masculinity, and the history of sexualities" is an article in the Journal of the History of Sexuality that reviews Lord Byron's personal life events, namely those that called his masculinity or sexuality into question in the context of the 19th century, and the effects those events have on the interpretation of his work. This is an example of pieces of 19th century literature that have been read as containing bisexual references or characters, and Byron's works are plentiful.
• "The Mediation of the Feminine: Bisexuality, Homoerotic Desire, and Self-Expression in Bram Stoker's Dracula" reads the sexual subtext of interactions between the characters, and how masculine and feminine attributes are arranged and described for each of the characters; with both of these analyses, Marjorie Howes finds evidence of bisexuality and same-gender attraction in the novel, and how that attraction was viewed in the context of Victorian literature.
• "The Governess, Mrs. Grose, and 'the Poison of an Influence' in The Turn of the Screw" is Hellen Kiloran's interpretation of The Turn of the Screw; popular techniques of Victorian literature were used to symbolize the corruption of a virginal/protective figure, and the symbolic value of the interactions/descriptions of Mrs. Grose and the Governess reveal a dynamic of bisexual desire between them.
• "Alexander Smith and the Bisexual Poetics of A Life-Drama" states that Smith writes through an epistemological lens that is uniquely bisexual, whereby the unorthodox nature of the heterosexual romance in the poem is imbedded with reference to same-gender attraction and courtship. The character Walter's "intimate friendship" with another man and eventual marriage to a woman are supports for this claim, with different contextual axes of the time being evaluated.