Valerie Rohy, Chair and Professor, Department of English
This lecture examines the retroactive formation of gay identity through the act of reading in a famous lesbian novel of the 1920s, Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness. Appealing to sexologial theory, Hall argues that homosexuals are naturally and immutably different–as we say now, “born this way”–yet the novel’s scene of reading opposes that claim, showing something like the queer influence of which the text itself would be accused. In doing so, it leads us to question theories of biological determinism, reframe paranoid notions of queer increase, and consider new forms of gay identity.
Video (MP4) LARGE FILE!
Audio (MP3)
Professor Rohy is the author of Impossible Women: Lesbian Figures and American Literature (Cornell, 2000) and Anachronism and Its Others: Sexuality, Race, Temporality (SUNY, 2009), and the co-editor (with Elizabeth Ammons) of American Local Color Writing, 1880-1920 (Penguin, 1998). She has published essays on sexuality, race, and American literature in such journals as GLQ, Genders, and Modern Fiction Studies. In 2006 she won UVM’s Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Award.
The Dean’s Lecture Series was established in 1991 as a way to recognize and honor colleagues in the College of Arts and Sciences who have consistently demonstrated the ability to translate their professional knowledge and skill into exciting classroom experiences for their students — faculty who meet the challenge of being both excellent teachers and highly respected professionals in their own discipline. The Award is a celebration of the unusually high quality of our faculty and has become an important and treasured event each semester.
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A thought-provoking lecture that raises important questions about literature, history, and the formation of sexual identity.
Professor Rohy explains the material clearly and thoughtfully. The historical examples helped ground the theoretical arguments.
This discussion reminded me of other scholarship on reader identification in modernist fiction. It would be interesting to see this framework applied to additional texts from the period.
Having read The Well of Loneliness before, I found this lecture opened up an entirely new way of thinking about the novel and its historical context.
I’m curious whether the model of reading Professor Rohy describes still applies to contemporary queer literature, where concepts of identity have shifted so much.
Very insightful talk—thank you for making such a complex topic accessible.
This lecture offers a compelling analysis of how reading functions as an active process in shaping gay identity rather than merely reflecting it. The connection to early twentieth-century sexological theory was especially illuminating.
Majorie Mastrolia
I found a great…
This was a fascinating read! I hadn’t considered the act of reading itself as a form of asserting identity in *The Well of Loneliness* before. Very thought-provoking.
This article highlights how reading becomes a space for self-recognition in the novel. A thoughtful perspective on gay identity.
I appreciate how this piece connects the act of reading with the formation of gay identity in The Well of Loneliness. It clearly shows how literature functions as both reflection and resistance. Very engaging analysis.
This is a compelling exploration of how reading operates as a transformative act in The Well of Loneliness. The discussion of gay identity as something shaped through texts and interpretation adds depth to the novel’s cultural significance. A well-argued and thought-provoking read.
An insightful take on identity and reading in The Well of Loneliness.
This is fascinating! The idea of retroactive identity formation through reading *The Well of Loneliness* really resonates. Thanks for sharing this perspective.
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This is a fascinating lecture! I really appreciate how Professor Rohy explores the act of reading as a way to shape and understand gay identity, challenging the idea of fixed, biological determinism. It’s interesting to see how a novel from the 1920s can still provoke important questions about sexuality and identity today—almost like playing a challenging slope game that keeps you thinking and adapting.
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» Gay Identity and the Act of Reading in The Well of Loneliness : CAS Online Media Archive : University of Vermont
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