Episode Details

An exploration of the concept of the “portal fantasy” and how it applies to historic literature involving cross-dressing as a context for same-sex desire.

In this episode we talk about

• The context of women cross-dressing in history and literature
• The literary genre of “portal fantasies” and the devices they use to connect author, reader, and story into a unified whole
• Cross-dressing plots as a type of romantic portal fantasy
• A catalog of story structures in which cross-dressing provides a context for same-sex desire

Further information about the texts and topics can be found at the following links:

• Iphis and Ianthe
• Iphis et Ianthe - Isaac de Benserade
• Yde and Olive
• Qamar al-Zaman and the Princess Boudour
• Amadis de Gaule
• Anson, John. 1974. “The Female Transvestite in Early Monasticism: The Origin and Development of a Motif” in Viator, 5: 1-32.
• Roman de Silence - Heldris de Cornouaille
• Sautman, Francesca Canadé. 2001. “What Can They Possibly Do Together? Queer Epic Performances in Tristan de Nanteuil” in Same Sex Love and Desire Among Women in the Middle Ages (ed. By Francesca Canadé Sautman & Pamela Sheingorn), Palgrave, New York.
• Orlando Furioso - Ludovico Ariosto
• For many of the plays with cross-dressing plots not listed individually, see: Walen, Denise A. 2005. Constructions of Female Homoeroticism in Early Modern Drama. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-6875-3
• Catherine Vizzani tag & podcast)
• The Travels and Adventures of Mademoiselle de Richelieu (tag & podcast)

For general discussions of female cross-dressing in literature and real life see the following:

• Bullough, Vern. 1996. “Cross Dressing and Gender Role Change in the Middle Ages” in Handbook of Medieval Sexuality, ed. Vern L. Bullough and James A. Brundage Garland Publishing, New York. ISBN 0-8153-3662-4
• Dekker, Rudolf M. and van de Pol, Lotte C. 1989. The Tradition of Female Transvestism in Early Modern Europe. Macmillan, London. ISBN 0-333-41253-2
• Donoghue, Emma. 1995. Passions Between Women. Harper Perennial, New York. ISBN 0-06-017261-4