In this study, I analyze late twentieth-
century French novels and movies that have, central
to their narratives, love between women; and I bring
to the surface the fresh standpoints that authors
and filmmakers develop about changing and contested
modes of relationality in modern France. More
particularly, I demonstrate how the normative
connotations of lesbian love, first impose
oppressive and reductive representations of women
who love women, and second, how these connotations
can be displaced from within, and, once subverted,
open up questions that pertain to other domains of
human life than love, in particular to notions of
temporality, community and relationality.
century French novels and movies that have, central
to their narratives, love between women; and I bring
to the surface the fresh standpoints that authors
and filmmakers develop about changing and contested
modes of relationality in modern France. More
particularly, I demonstrate how the normative
connotations of lesbian love, first impose
oppressive and reductive representations of women
who love women, and second, how these connotations
can be displaced from within, and, once subverted,
open up questions that pertain to other domains of
human life than love, in particular to notions of
temporality, community and relationality.