Eccentricity and Sameness

Charlotte Ross is Senior Lecturer in Italian Studies at the University of Birmingham.

• Contents: Approaching the Search for Italian «Lesbians» Past – Pathologies and Passions in Late Nineteenth-Century Medical Discourses – Fatal Attractions: Troubling Desires in the Novel – Flammable Proximity: The Scuola normale femminile and Beyond – From Pathologization to the Defence of Pleasure: Sexology and its Parodies – Literary Luxury and Cultural Calls for Female Sexual Liberation – The Desire Without a Name: Visions of a Difference that Might Have Been – Sexology and the New Woman under Fascism – Tales of Sexual Initiation and Sapphic Feminism – Loneliness, Disorder and the Disappearing Lesbian.

«‘Eccentricity and Sameness ’adds a new chapter to the history of same-sex relations between women in modern Europe. Shedding light on Italy’s dark sexual past, Ross explores multiple discursive realms, including sexology and literature, to show convincingly why the study of lesbianism matters.» (Laura Doan, Professor of Cultural History and Sexuality Studies, University of Manchester) «This is a much needed investigation into one of the least explored areas of modern Italian culture. It makes a significant and valuable addition to the broader field of queer, lesbian and gay studies, which is still too focused on the Anglophone experience. With impressive critical acumen, based on meticulous close reading and historical contextualization, Ross brilliantly details the complex discursive mechanisms through which female same-sex desire was made intelligible. This is an important book – original in its subject matter and sophisticated in its theoretical insights, offering a unique perspective on modern Italian culture.» (Derek Duncan, Professor of Italian Studies, University of St Andrews)