• Introduction
• Chapter 1 History and Theory

• Main Page
• Section I: The Ancient Mediterranean
• Section II: Medieval Worlds [The West, Byzantium, Islam]
• Section III: Europe to World War I
• Section IV: Europe Since World War I
• Section V: North America
• Section VI: Africa, Asia, Latin America, Oceania
• Section VII: Special Themes
• Section VIII: Bibliographies
• Section IX: LGBT History Links
• Section X: FAQ
• Section XI: Picture Gallery
  

Introduction

• People with a History - Introduction
• Lesbian and Gay Histories - Defining the Fields
• Principles of Page Organization
• People With a Story Goals
  

Back to Contents

Chapter 1: History and Theory

For teachers of courses on LGBT subjects an important choice is always whether to address "events and people" or "theory" first. In most areas of history this is simply not an issue: courses focus on periods and any relevant "theory" -- for example, Marxist economics, Whig politics -- is discussed as it come up. But LGBT history almost from the outset has been intertwined with complex discussions about what makes a "homosexual". It is also true that much of the evidence about "homosexuality" in the past survives in sources which have long been of interest to philologists, philosophers, and literary critics. The result is that the field is awash with jargonistic discussions. These discussions are not, however, pointless, and have raised basic questions about the entire arena of the history of human sexuality.

Discussions:

• John Thorp, Review Article/Discussion, The Social Construction of Homosexuality Phoenix, [At Medieval Sourcebook]
  Thorp analyzes one of the defining debates in the academic study of homosexuality in the past. He attacks the notion that there was no "homosexuality" in ancient Greece by considering claims of Foucault and Halperin.
• David M. Halperin, Forgetting Foucault: Acts, Identities, and the History of Sexuality [At Internet Archive, from Emory]
  Halperin is among the leaders of the "social constructionist" school of thought in regard to homosexuality in the Ancient world.
• Laurel M. Bowman, Interview with David Halperin, Favonius vol. 3 (1991), 27-43
• Marilyn B. Skinner, Zeus and Leda: The Sexuality Wars in Contemporary Classical Scholarship [At Diotima]
• Mark Ormand, Positions for Classicists, or Why Should Feminist Classicists Care about Queer Theory? [At Diotima]
• Rictor Norton: Synopsis of The Myth of the Modern Homosexual: Queer History and the Search for Cultural Unity, (London: Cassells, 1997) [At Norton's website]
  Norton is an opponent of "social construction" theories. He holds that the proper subject of gay history is queer culture in the past.
• Richard Mohr: "John Boswell and Gay Generations", [At QRD]
  Although a number of gay historians have been critical of John Boswell (along with the usual right-wing critics), many others have appreciated what he brought to gay historical studies.
• Vinc-Cheng: Judith Butler's Obliteration of the "I" [At Berkeley]
  A paper on Butler's concept of "performitivity" - now a major theme in a number of LGBT research projects.
• Paul Halsall: Comments on Defining a Field: Lesbian and Gay History, CUNY 1995
• Paul Halsall: A History of Heterosexuality?
• Wayne Dynes: Queer Studies: In Search of A Discipline, Academic Questions 1995
  Critique of 1994 Queer studies conference at University of Iowa.
• Annamarie Jagose: Queer Theory, Australian Humanities Review, December 1996, [At latrobe.edu.au]
• Donald Morton: The Crisis of Queer Theory and/in Altman's "Globalism" [At latrobe.edu.au]
• Frederick Whitam: A Question of Sexual Orientation, ASU RESEARCH, 23 Aug. 1995 [At Arizona State U.]
  Summary of ethnographic report, with claims of genetic basis for homosexuality
• Amy Goodloe: Choice, Biology and the Causes of Homosexuality [At Lesbian.org]
  Presented at a panel discussion on Queer Studies at SFSU September, 1994.
• HOMOSEXUALITY - An Analysis of Biological Theories of Causation [At Fly Fishing Devon]

Reviews:

Websites:

• Queer Frontiers [At USC]
  An important "Queer Theory" site.
• Contemporary Philosophy, Critical Theory and Postmodern Thought Resources.
• Foucault Home Page [At CSUN]
  Discussion of the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault has been central to some recent historiography of LGBT's. This is probably the best Foucault site, and has links to others. The links page here provides references to sites concerned with the other divinities of "theory" - Nietzsche, Lacan, Heidigger, Derrida, Deleuze. Some would argue it is all a commentary on Nietzsche.
• The Gay Gene [At AOL]
  A site run by Chandler Burr for "both scientists and non-scientists. It contains articles and links to ongoing studies. Much of the "critical theory" aspect of discussion about LGBT history has been founded on the assumption that "sexuality" is a human "social construction". This notion does have solid backing from anthropological data. A major challenge to the "constructionist" position has arisen with the publication of a number of different studies which suggest that homosexuality has a genetic basis in at least some people.
• The Scientific Debate on Homosexuality [At Internet Archive, from Dallas Net]
  Slightly "lighter" than the Gay Gene site.
• Scientific Inquiries into Sexual Orientation [At CMU]

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© 1997, Paul Halsall, halsall@murray.fordham.edu [a picture!]
Note: I read all mail, and keep much of it, but I will not be able to reply to all notes.

Last updated April 12, 2007