Queer Renaissance Historiography: Backward Gaze

Edited by Vin Nardizzi, Stephen Guy-Bray and Will Stockton.
 
We know from the stories of Orpheus and of Lot that the 'backward gaze' brings in its wake all kinds of queer, unsettling effects. The same can be said for Queer Renaissane Historiography. The sparks fly in these productively contentious essays which illuminatingly rethink queer scholarship's relation to historicism. There is no end of surprises, provocations, and pleasures here.
 
Dealing with questions of the meaning of eroticism in Renaissance England and its separation from other affective relations, Queer Renaissance Historiography examines the distinctive arrangement of sexuality during this period, and the role that queer theory has played in our understanding of this arrangement. As such, this book not only reflects on the practice of writing a queer history of Renaissance England, but also suggests new directions for this practice.
 
Queer Renaissance Historiography collects original contributions from leading experts, participating in a range of critical conversations whilst prompting scholars and students alike to reconsider what we think we know about sex and sexuality in Renaissance England. Presenting ethical, political and rcitical analyses of Early Modern texts, this book sets the tone for future scholarship on Renaissance sexualities, making a timely intervention in theoretical and methodological debates.