A road to Stonewall : male homosexuality and homophobia in English and America literature, 1750-1969 /

Since the June 1969 uprising at New York's Stonewall Inn, the very word "Stonewall" has become etched in the American psyche as a synonym for "liberation." Stonewall proved a cataclysmic marker in the lives of gay men and lesbians: it was the point after which gay people wer...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fone, Byrne, 1936- (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Twayne Publishers, [1995]
Series:Twayne's literature & society series ; no. 6.
Subjects:
Description
Summary:Since the June 1969 uprising at New York's Stonewall Inn, the very word "Stonewall" has become etched in the American psyche as a synonym for "liberation." Stonewall proved a cataclysmic marker in the lives of gay men and lesbians: it was the point after which gay people were no longer content to live in fearful silence as their most basic rights were trampled on or ignored. Stonewall happened because homosexuals of all races revolted against an act of official oppression. It was indeed a beginning, but it was also the culmination of a long struggle against the tyranny of socially regulated and defined speech about homosexuality.
In this insightful and engaging analysis, Byrne R.S. Fone maps out one very significant road to Stonewall - the literary course of male homoerotic desire and the homophobia that has made so much of what homosexuals have written so passionate and moving. Most of the texts Fone analyzes presume that sexuality is the central aspect of identity. Whereas gay literature since 1969 has been a vocal and supporting partner to the activism that has characterized the movement for lesbian and gay rights, before 1969 there were few political initiatives and only a handful of organized groups: the text was dominant.
Item Description:The Cushing Library/Women & Gender Studies copy was acquired as part of The Don Kelly Research Collection of Gay Literature and Culture.
Physical Description:xxv, 303 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.
Also issued online.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-289) and index.
ISBN:0805788565
9780805788563
0805745343
9780805745344