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A show about queer women in history and historic literature, plus coverage of the field of sapphic historical fiction. Content note: May include discussions of sex within an academic context.
Episodes
Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
On the Shelf for August 2017
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 13 with Heather Rose Jones
Your monthly update on what the Lesbian Historic Motif Project has been doing.
In this episode we talk about:
- The organization of the new weekly schedule li>
- Recent and upcoming publications covered on the blog
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- Stepto, Michele & Gabriel Stepto (translators). Catalina de Erauso. Lieutenant Nun -- Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996. ISBN 0-8070-7073-4li>
- Velasco, Sherry. 2000. The Lieutenant Nun: Transgenderism, Lesbian Desire and Catalina de Erauso. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-78746-4
- Velasco, Sherry. 2011. Lesbians in Early Modern Spain. Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville. ISBN 978-0-8265-1750-0
- Announcing this month’s author guest, Catherine Lundoff
- New and forthcoming fiction
-
- (The new and forthcoming fiction segment starts in a later month.)
- Ask Sappho: Sheena asks: “I would like a kind of breakdown of when it became illegal and legal to be lesbian. What I am finding interesting is that it wasn't always a big taboo what changed?”
- The following sources provide more information on the discussion topics:
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- Crawford, Patricia & Sara Mendelson. 1995. "Sexual Identities in Early Modern England: The Marriage of Two Women in 1680" in Gender and History vol 7, no 3: 362-377.
- Crompton, Louis. 1985. “The Myth of Lesbian Impunity: Capital Laws from 1270 to 1791” in Licata, Salvatore J. & Robert P. Petersen (eds). The Gay Past: A Collection of Historical Essays. Harrington Park Press, New York. ISBN 0-918393-11-6 (Also published as Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 6, numbers 1/2, Fall/Winter 1980.)
- Lansing, Carol. 2005. “Donna con Donna? A 1295 Inquest into Female Sodomy” in Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History: Sexuality and Culture in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, Third Series vol. II: 109-122.
- Puff, Helmut. 2000. "Female Sodomy: The Trial of Katherina Hetzeldorfer (1477)" in Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies: 30:1, 41-61.
- Sears, Clare. 2015. Arresting Dress: Cross-Dressing, Law, and Fascination in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-5758-2
A transcript of this podcast is available here.
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
- Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
- RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
- Twitter: @LesbianMotif
- Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
- The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon
Links to Heather Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com
- Email: Heather Rose Jones
- Twitter: @heatherosejones
- Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Catalina de Erauso
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 12 with Heather Rose Jones
This is a brief tour through the life of an early 17th century Basque woman (or possibly trans man--though it’s tricky to use any sort of modern category label) who escaped from a convent at age 15, began living as a man, and went off to the Spanish colonies in the New World to seek fortune and adventure. She found plenty of adventure.
In this episode we talk about:
- The basic facts of Catalina’s life
- Why it’s difficult to try to apply modern categories of gender and sexuality to historic individuals
- The literary and pop culture context of early 17th century Spain that may have shaped how Catalina’s story was told--and even perhaps inspired her actions
- Catalina’s romantic and erotic encounters with women, and why they’re a bit less satisfying to a modern audience than we might wish
- Some exciting new changes to the Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast
Books mentioned
- The full text of Catalina de Erauso’s autobiography can be found in translation in:
- Stepto, Michele & Gabriel Stepto (translators). 1996. Catalina de Erauso. Lieutenant Nun -- Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-7073-4
- The other major sources used for this podcast are:
- Velasco, Sherry. 2000. The Lieutenant Nun: Transgenderism, Lesbian Desire and Catalina de Erauso. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-78746-4
- Velasco, Sherry. 2011. Lesbians in Early Modern Spain. Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville. ISBN 978-0-8265-1750-0
This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:
A transcript of this podcast is available here.
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
- Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
- RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
- Twitter: @LesbianMotif
- Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
- The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon
Links to Heather Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com
- Email: Heather Rose Jones
- Twitter: @heatherosejones
- Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Sappho: The Translations
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 11 with Heather Rose Jones
In this show we’ll look at the legacy of Sappho from the Middle Ages up through the 19th century: the various images people had of her, how people used her as a symbol, the way those images affected how her poetry was translated into everyday languages, and how poets used her themes and imagery in their own work.
In this episode we talk about:
- How much poetry did Sappho write, and how much survives? Why was it lost, and why were the bits we have preserved?
- What was the changing image of Sappho from the middle ages through the 19th century? How did people reconcile their admiration for Sappho’s poetry and their disapproval of homosexuality?
- Who translated Sappho’s works and how did their opinions of her affect those translations?
The show will include recitations of the following poems:
- Ode to Aphrodite & Fragment #31: Jane McIntosh Snyder from Lesbian Desire in the Lyrics of Sappho (20th century)
- “On a Lady Named Beloved” inspired by fragment #31: Anne de Rohan (1617), translated from the French
- Fragment #31: John Hall (1652)
- Fragment #31: Joseph Addison (1735)
- Ode to Aphrodite & Fragment #31: Abrose Philips (1748)
- “Eleanore” inspired by Fragment #31: Lord Tennyson (1832)
- Fragment #31 & “Imitation of Sappho” inspired by Fragment #31: Mary Hewitt (1845)
Books used as source material
- Addison, Joseph. 1735. The Works of Anacreon, Translated into English Verse, with Notes Explanatory and Poetical. To which are added the Odes, Fragments, and Epigrams of Sappho. London.
- Castle, Terry (ed). 2003. The Literature of Lesbianism: A Historical Anthology from Ariosto to Stonewall. Columbia University Press, New York. ISBN 0-231-12510-0
- Hall, John. 1652. Sappho’s On the Sublime.
- Snyder, Jane. 1997. Lesbian Desire in the Lyrics of Sappho. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Wharton, Henry Thornton. 1887. Sappho: Memoir, Text, Selected Renderings, and a Literal Translation. London.
This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:
A transcript of this podcast is available here.
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
- Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
- RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
- Twitter: @LesbianMotif
- Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
- The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon
Links to Heather Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com
- Email: Heather Rose Jones
- Twitter: @heatherosejones
- Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Sappho of Lesbos - The Woman and the Legend
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 10 with Heather Rose Jones
As a special Pride Month celebration, I’m recording a pair of episodes talking about the poet Sappho: what we know about her life and context, the legends that sprang up about her, what people of various ages thought of her, and most especially what they knew of her poetry, how they interpreted and even imitated it.
In this episode we talk about:
- The known facts of Sappho’s life
- What classical Greek and Roman writers said about her
- Possible explanations for some of the contradictory stories about her
- The social context for Sappho’s expressions of love and desire for women, and what sort of relationships were most likely involved
This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:
A transcript of this podcast is available here.
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
- Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
- RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
- Twitter: @LesbianMotif
- Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
- The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon
Links to Heather Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com
- Email: Heather Rose Jones
- Twitter: @heatherosejones
- Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
The Travels and Adventures of Mademoiselle de Richelieu
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 9 with Heather Rose Jones
This mid-18th century novel tells the story of two women romping through Europe in male disguise, breaking hearts, having narrow escapes, falling in love with each other, and ending up deciding to share the rest of their lives together. The 18th century prose is rather dense, but I’ve tried to pick selections that show why I find it fascinating.
In this episode we talk about:
- The historic context of the novel
- An overall plot summary
- Readings of selected excerpts that illustrate the romantic relationship between the two main characters
Books mentioned
- The full text of The Travels and Adventures of Mademoiselle de Richelieu is accessible primarily through academic libraries, but is available in electronic facsimile. WorldCat has the following listings for it:
This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:
A transcript of this podcast is available here.
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
- Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
- RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
- Twitter: @LesbianMotif
- Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
- The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon
Links to Heather Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com
- Email: Heather Rose Jones
- Twitter: @heatherosejones
- Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Medieval Love Poetry
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 8 with Heather Rose Jones
This episode looks at examples of courtly love--both in poetry and in prose--expressed between two women, or by two female characters.
In this episode we talk about:
- The context and conventions of the “courtly love” genre
- The problems of relating the sentiments expressed in courtly love literature to everyday lives and experiences
- Scholarly blind spots when interpreting same-sex expressions of courtly love
- Love, desire, and friendship between women in the 13th century French story L’Escoufle
- The 13th century troubariz (female troubador) Bieiris de Romans and the love poem she wrote to a woman named Maria
- A passionate poem of love and longing written by one anonymous 12th century German woman to another
Books mentioned
- The full text of Na Maria by Bieris de Romans can be found in: Bogin, Meg. 1976. The Women Troubadours. Paddington Press, Ltd., New York. ISBN 0-8467-0113-8
- The full text of the Tegernsee MS poem can be found in: Matter, E. Ann. 1989. “My Sister, My Spouse: Woman-Identified Women in Medieval Christianity” in Weaving the Visions: New Patterns in Feminist Spirituality, eds. Judith Plaskow & Carol P. Christ. Harper & Row, San Francisco.
This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:
A transcript of this podcast is available here.
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
- Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
- RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
- Twitter: @LesbianMotif
- Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
- The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon
Links to Heather Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com
- Email: Heather Rose Jones
- Twitter: @heatherosejones
- Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Aphra Behn
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 7 with Heather Rose Jones
This episode is about the 17th century novelist, playwright, and spy Aphra Behn.
In this episode we talk about:
- Behn’s careers in espionage and literature
- Her bisexuality and some of the complexities of how desire between women was portrayed in the 17th century
- Poem: VERSES design'd by Mrs. A. Behn, to be sent to a fair Lady, that desir'd she would absent her?self, to cure her Love. Left unfinish'd
- Poem: The Dream
- Poem: To the Fair Clarinda Who made love to me, Imagin'd more than woman
- Dedicatory text to Hortense Mancini, Duchesse Mazarine
Books mentioned:
- Todd, Janet. 1996. The Secret Life of Aphra Behn. Rutgers Univ Press, New Brunswick. ISBN 0-8135-2455-5
- If you’d like to read some historical fiction that includes an entirely imagined meeting between Aphra and Hortense Mancini: ”The Mazarinette and the Musketeer” by Heather Rose Jones
This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:
A transcript of this podcast is available here.
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
- Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
- RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
- Twitter: @LesbianMotif
- Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
- The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon
Links to Heather Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com
- Email: Heather Rose Jones
- Twitter: @heatherosejones
- Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Catherine Vizzani
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 6 with Heather Rose Jones
This is the exciting and somewhat surprising story of an 18th century Italian woman who received a surprising level of acceptance for her sexual orientation, both from her parents and from an employer.
In this episode we talk about:
- The outline of Catherine Vizzani’s life
- Readings from the English translation of her biography, in all their 18th century glory
- The full text of the 1755 English translations of Catherine Vizzani’s biography can be found here.
This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:
A transcript of this podcast is available here.
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
- Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
- RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
- Twitter: @LesbianMotif
- Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
- The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon
Links to Heather Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com
- Email: Heather Rose Jones
- Twitter: @heatherosejones
- Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Laudomia Loves Margaret
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 5 with Heather Rose Jones
The 16th century romance between Sienese poet and intellectual Laudomia Forteguerri and Duchess Margaret of Austria.
In this episode we talk about:
- Translations and the context of the poetry Laudomia wrote for Margaret can be found in:
- Eisenbichler, Konrad. “Laudomia Forteguerri Loves Margaret of Austria” in Same Sex Love and Desire Among Women in the Middle Ages (ed. By Francesca Canadé Sautman & Pamela Sheingorn), Palgrave, New York, 2001.
This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:
A transcript of this podcast is available here.
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
- Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
- RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
- Twitter: @LesbianMotif
- Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
- The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon
Links to Heather Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com
- Email: Heather Rose Jones
- Twitter: @heatherosejones
- Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
Friday Sep 11, 2020
Friday Sep 11, 2020
Bosom Sex
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 4 with Heather Rose Jones
The lives and loves of two African-American women in the post Civil War era, as discovered in their correspondence.
In this episode we talk about:
-
- Who were Addie Brown ad Rebecca Primus?
- What did their families and communities think about their relationship?
- The ways in which individual histories can surprise us.
- This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here: Addie Brown & Rebecca Primus
- A transcript of this podcast is available here.
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
-
-
- Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
- Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
- RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
- Twitter: @LesbianMotif
- Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
- The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon
-
Links to Heather Online
-
- Website: http://alpennia.com
- Email: Heather Rose Jones
- Twitter: @heatherosejones
- Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)