OK, I confess that the blog title is unabashed click-bait. But the story behind it is deeply fascinating and ultimately satisfying. The image of 19th century "romantic friends" as involving flowery, sentimental language that is purely conventional in content and not to be taken as *gasp* implying an erotic relationship is eroded a bit every time a collection of private records such as this comes to light. Not to say that all "romantic friends" can be assumed to include sexual relationships, but that such a possibility should never be categorically excluded.
LHMP
Blog entry
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 108 (previously 35a) - On the Shelf for June 2019 - Transcript
(Originally aired 2019/06/01 - listen here)
Welcome to On the Shelf for June 2019.
I say this in the text of the entry below, but really I consider this is the big take-away for this book: if you intend to set a queer story in mid-16th to mid-18th century England, and you aren't already fully steeped in the textual evidence available for that time and place, drop everything you're doing and buy this book. (No, I don't get kick-backs. Even the buy-link is to the publisher, not to Amazon.) That's it. That's everything I have to say.
I was excited to hear about this book because material on Jewish topics has been sadly lacking in my research materials. Alas, it's still sadly lacking. This collection is quite extensive in scope and nature but there is very little material of lesbian relevance, and what there is adds little new information. If you know someone who's interested in researching male homoerotic experiences in western Jewish history, I think it would be a valuable resource. I suspect that if a work of this type had focused specifically on queer female experiences, there might be more to dig up.
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 110 (previously 35c( - Book Appreciation with Anna Clutterbuck-Cook (part 2)
(Originally aired 2019/06/15 - listen here)
Transcript pending.
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 109 (previously 35b) - Book Appreciation with Anna Clutterbuck-Cook (part 1)
(Originally aired 2019/06/09 - listen here)
Transcript Pending.
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 107 (previously 34d) - The True History of Catharina Vizzani (Reprise)
(Originally aired 2019/05/25 - listen here)
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 106 (previously 34c) - Historic Lesbians on the Screen: What We Love - Transcript
(Originally aired 2019/05/18 - listen here)
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 105 (previously 34b )- Interview with Molly Tanzer - transcript pending
(Originally aired 2019/05/11 - listen here)
Transcript pending.
Show Notes
In this episode we talk about:
Although this article only briefly notes the same-sex examples of Egyptian love magic that suggested potential relevance, it's an example of how the specific anecdotes and texts discussed in articles that focus on sexuality need further elaboration to be used effectively in building stories. Brooten's focus is on how same-sex desire was a recognized part of the social landscape in Roman-era Egypt, with the magical texts being used as evidence. This is useful as fictional inspiration, in and of itself.
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