[ilds] Bisexuality and Beyond

[Anne R Zahlan]

yes

The topic was race but the Lesbian stuff came up.

Anne


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James Gifford" <james.d.gifford at gmail.com>
To: <ilds at lists.uvic.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 3:57 AM
Subject: Re: [ilds] Bisexuality and Beyond


> Nice comments, Anne, and it's good to have you in the conversation.
> Where did your article appear?  Is it the one on "The Black Body" in
> /South Atlantic Review/?
>
> I'd agree that there's a difference in how the lesbian figures in
> Durrell's later fiction, though I do think it's a shift from what we
> find in /Pied Piper of Lovers/:
>
> ----------->
> Two young women, of unbelievable slimness, were locked in each other’s
> arms, trying to dance to one of the gramophones. They were so tightly
> wedged in that they found movement an impossibility, but they swayed
> from side to side, wagging their hips gently in time to the music, and
> intoning nasally:
>
>      Love, you’re a peach,
>      Want you to teach me
>      Love as Love ought to be.
>
> Their eyes were fast shut, as if they were dancing some insomniac dance
> of lethargy and utter exhaustion. “Minnie and Kate,” said Isobel
> angrily. “Why in hell can’t they do their erotic hell-dances in private.
> It’s indecent.”
>      “What isn’t?” said Robin. “Live and let live.”
>      “Love and let love,” amended Walsh. (/Pied/ 219)
> <-----------
>
> The protagonist Walsh, who resembles Durrell quite a bit, very clearly
> had homosexual experiences as well.
>
> As for Bruce's question about why a shift may have occurred, my own
> suspicion, which is probably different from Anne's, is that Durrell
> become more interested in BOTH shifting identities and destructive
> figures in his later fiction.  That said, Justine is destructive in ways
> kindred to Livia, so there is a longer timeframe involved.
>
> For what it's worth, I'm attached a copy of a queer reading of Henry
> Miller, which also refers to Durrell.  The journal makes itself public 6
> months after publication, so I think I can send this to everyone without
> trampling on toes...
>
> Best,
> James
>
> On 21/03/11 9:26 AM, Anne R Zahlan wrote:
>> You could look at, for example, pages 300-302 of /Monsieur /(Blanford's
>> views, countered somewhat by Tu),//and then there's the characterization
>> of Livia throughout the /Quintet./ I especially like this observation:
>> "'In the powder rooms of the world's great hotels when male lesbians
>> meet they show each other their wedding rings and burst out laughing'"
>> (M301).
>>
>> *rom:* Bruce Redwine <mailto:bredwine1968 at earthlink.net>
>>
>>     *To:* ilds at lists.uvic.ca <mailto:ilds at lists.uvic.ca>
>>     *Cc:* Bruce Redwine <mailto:bredwine1968 at earthlink.net>
>>     *Sent:* Monday, March 21, 2011 11:58 AM
>>     *Subject:* Re: [ilds] Bisexuality and Beyond
>>
>>     Which passages in the Quintet? I don't sense this in the Quartet.
>>     Has Durrell changed his attitude? Seems unlikely. If so, why?
>>
>>
>>     Bruce
>
>
>


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