dc.contributor.advisor |
Phillips, Kim |
|
dc.contributor.advisor |
Diggelmann, Lindsay |
|
dc.contributor.author |
Milligan, Grace |
|
dc.date.accessioned |
2022-06-30T03:58:01Z |
|
dc.date.available |
2022-06-30T03:58:01Z |
|
dc.date.issued |
2022 |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
https://hdl.handle.net/2292/60244 |
|
dc.description |
Full Text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only. |
en |
dc.description.abstract |
This thesis is a comparative study of lesbian-like women across three distinct
geographical contexts during the late Middle Ages. These contexts are
Confucian China, Dar al-Islam, and Latin Christendom. This thesis aims to shine
a light on an area of history that is often overlooked, that of the lesbian-like
woman, and further compare lesbian-like women of colour to their more
prominently studied white counterparts. From here an understanding of what
shared experiences lesbian-like women had across three radically different areas
can be gleaned. This thesis is divided into three chapters, which examine
authoritative sources as well as male- and female-authored texts. The first
chapter concludes that despite the varying types of authoritative sources found
across the three different contexts they all contribute to a global phallocentric
understanding of lesbianism. Regardless of the form of a given authoritative
source takes, lesbianism is always framed as phallocentric with the phallic
appropriation representing the ultimate transgression a lesbian-like woman
commits. The second chapter illustrates that male-authored texts, despite
presenting lesbian-like stories, end their tales with intense hetero-sexualization.
Lesbian-like behaviour is presented as a strange interlude which eventually ends
with a return to normalcy. The third chapter addresses the female perspective
through female-authored texts and concludes that female-only spaces became
de-facto lesbian-like spaces. Removed from the rigidity of patriarchal
expectations these women’s spaces, which they were forced into or praised for
entering willingly, gave women a general freedom which allowed for lesbian-like
behaviour to be pursued unhindered. Ultimately, this thesis illustrates that
lesbian-like women were subjugated like all women across these three distinct
cultures but lesbian-like women managed to thrive thanks to a unique apathy for
female-female interactions. |
|
dc.publisher |
ResearchSpace@Auckland |
en |
dc.relation.ispartof |
Masters Thesis - University of Auckland |
en |
dc.relation.isreferencedby |
UoA |
en |
dc.rights |
Restricted Item. Full Text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only. |
en |
dc.rights |
Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. |
|
dc.rights.uri |
https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm |
en |
dc.rights.uri |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/ |
|
dc.title |
Lesbian-Like Women in the Global Middle Ages |
|
dc.type |
Thesis |
en |
thesis.degree.discipline |
History |
|
thesis.degree.grantor |
The University of Auckland |
en |
thesis.degree.level |
Masters |
en |
dc.date.updated |
2022-06-06T05:51:46Z |
|
dc.rights.holder |
Copyright: the author |
en |