Daughters of Desire

Part 1 Desire: lesbian representations in film - mermaids in the desert - must be seeing things; lesbian desire on the screen - "The Hunger"; the castration of lesbian desire in cinema - a matter of some agency - Sister George not at her personal best; European lesbians in film - reformulating the fetishization of beauty - November moon falls at first sight; lesbian desire for bedding lesbians in cinema - plural positionalities - Claire of the moon wants to go fish, when night is falling. Part 2 Subtext: lesbian representations from text to screen - reworking the received - "The Color Purple" and "Fried Green Tomatoes"; lesbians come out on celluloid - rage and trauma as subtext - Lianna on thin ice listens to nocturne; early cinema lesbians in and out of the closet - the subtext speaks the unspeakable - Rebecca seeks Queen Christina with several "madchen"/maidens in uniform; lesbians spectating of film - extratext, subtext, intertext, interdiscourse - "Desperately Seeking Susan" at the "Bagdad Cafe" looking for salmonberries and fire; the lesbian subtext in cinema - resistant readings - "Thelma and Louise".