Literature Title, Dewey, Format

1
Literature --Title, Dewey, Format

• Summers, Claude. The Gay and Lesbian Literary
  Heritage A Readers Companion to the Writers and
  Their Words, From Antiquity to the Present. New
  York Henry Holt, 1995.
• 809.89206 GAY AND 1995
• Hardcover. 786 pages. Slightly smaller than 8.5 x
  11
• 88.00 on Amazon
• Note This PPT addresses the 1995 edition,
  although there is also a 2002 edition. Neither
  edition includes images, so any images in this
  powerpoint are simply for interest and visual
  appeal.

2
Literature--Arrangement and Indexing

• Introduction
• 350 alphabetical entries
• Notes on Contributors
• 8 page index

3
Literature--Scope

• 150 scholars contributed articles
• Survey of gay and lesbian literary presence in
  various historical periods and literatures
• Critical essays on gay and lesbian authors
• Admits a bias toward English and American
  literary traditions, although attempts to address
  other cultures
• from antiquity to the present Plato to
  Michael Cunningham (author of The Hours)

4
Literature--Currency

• the nine-column entry on AIDS literature,
  which previously delineated the most significant
  works year by year through 1994, adds just two
  scant paragraphs on the last seven years while
  revising none of the earlier text.
• ---Eric Bryant, Library Journal

• 2002 edition updates the 1995, BUT
• Unfortunately, of more than 380 entries, just 32
  are new, and very few of the others have been
  revised or had their bibliographies updated.
  Allen Ginsberg's entry now has a death date and
  one new citation, but the text is untouched

5
Literature--Purposes

• Intended
• this book cannot help
• partaking of a specific
• cultural (and political) agenda,
• the recovery .. of a
• perpetually threatened legacy
• of same-sex love in literature
• and life.
• --from the Introduction

• Additional
• To address a variety of needs
• Those who want to browse, dip into the book for
  pleasure enlightenment.
• Those who want to study in-depth.
• Those who need to find information quickly.

6
Literature--Authorship

• Claude Summers
• Professor Emeritus of Humanities and English at
  University of Michigan, Dearborn
• Won the Modern Language Associations
  Crompton-Noll award in Gay Studies
• Former chair of Modern Language Associations
  division on gay studies in language and
  literature
• Author of Gay Fictions Wilde to Stonewall

7
Literature--Reviews

• The re-release of The Gay Lesbian Literary
  Heritage-published in
• 1995 by Holt is to be celebrated for at least
  bringing back into print
• this best-ever, single-volume reference on the
  subject. Summers
• (English, Univ. of Michigan) presents both
  biographical and topical
• entries with an international scope, though the
  emphasis is on
• American and English literature.
• -From Library Journal
• This remarkable volume contains essential reading
  for gay people
• seeking evidence of ancient roots and roles--and
  for anyone else who
• wants a more complete picture of the origins of
  literary endeavor than
• formal education usually offers.Lisa Alther,
  author of Kinflicks and Five Minutes in Heaven

8
Literature--Reviews

• Comprehensive in scope, taking us from ancient to
  contemporary times and
• treating each topic with an admirable
  thoroughness, this is the first
• edition of what I predict will become an
  authoritative record for an
• expanding 'literary heritage'.Richard Schneider
  Jr., editor of The Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review
• It is dedicated to the recovery, consolidation,
  and document of the diverse legacies of same sex
  love in literature, and the 150-plus scholars
  from around the world who ahve authored these
  articles should be proud to have contributed so
  successfully to that mission..Library Journal,
  G. Douglas Meyers, Dec 02

9
Literature--Typical reference uses

• On page ix of the Introduction, this description
  of a typical coming out story range incredibly
  true I know from experience this kind of
  reference use occurs

• The trip to the local library,
• where the young (person),
• desperate for the most basic
• information, is usually utterly
• confused or bitterly
• disappointed by what he or
• she discovers.

10
Literature--Typical reference uses, continued

• Students wanting information on famous authors
  who are themselves gay or lesbian.
• Students wanting information on gay and lesbian
  themes in literature.
• Instructors teaching literature survey courses,
  who are comparing gay and lesbian themes across
  historical periods.

11
Literature--Special Features

• Includes national ethnic literatures e.g.
• English Lit (e.g. medieval, Renaissance,
  Romanticism)
• American Lit Lesbian post-Stonewall
• Cross-referencing
• Bibliographies for most entries

12
Literature--Complementary Sources

• Gay and Lesbian Literature.
• Ed. Malinowski, Sharon. Detroit St. James
  Press, 1994.
• 485 pages, categorized index (general,
  nationality, subject, genre, literary awards)
• More accessible re. Authors, but no entries on
  literary traditions.

13
Literature--Personal Impression

• Im impressed with stated purpose of book. Did
  not know such an anthology existed.
• The book is unwieldy heavy, dense, completely
  alphabetic. Separate sections would make it more
  useful literary traditions, topics, authors.
• Id prefer an overview of literatures, then to
  dive into authors.
• Language is highly sophisticated not accessible
  to the average young or student reader. Requires
  strong vocabulary and understanding of literary
  terms.