Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I Murder in Memphis
1. Girl Slays Girl 9
2. A Feast of Sensation 32
3. Habeas Corpus 61
4. Inquisition of Lunacy 87
Part II Making Meanings
5. Violent Passions 123
6. Doctors of Desire 156
7. A Thousand Stories 180
More Than Love: An Epilogue 193
Appendix A: Hypothetical Case 201
Appendix B: Letters 213
Notes 233
Bibliography 281
Index 299

Promotional Information

Retells and analyses lesbian love murder stories from the 1890s to the 1930s to show how narratives of sex and violence were used to privatize populations and cultures, substituting a rhetoric of moral pedagogy for democratic debate.

About the Author

Lisa Duggan is Associate Professor of American Studies and History at New York University. She is coauthor of Sex Wars: Sexual Dissent and Political Culture and coeditor of Our Monica, Ourselves: The Clinton Affair and National Interest.

Reviews

"What Duggan does in this original and moving book is take a murder case from 1890's Memphis and make of it a prism through which to illuminate American modernity. Her method depends less on an account of the murder or of the judicial procedure that followed it than on an analysis of the many narratives - of lesbian love and sex and madness - that the case occasioned. Juxtaposing these narratives to narratives of lynching, Duggan produces a tour-de-force of historical understanding." - Henry Abelove, Wesleyan University "A book to die for! Theoretically sophisticated, yet written with clarity and elegance, Sapphic Slashers opens whole new worlds of understanding about sexuality, gender norms, racial injustice, violence, and the complex ways they are connected. Full of passion and intelligence, it made me think in fresh new ways about issues of great importance. Duggan's is an amazing intellect." - John D'Emilio, coauthor of Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America "In this stunningly coherent and compelling account of the development of 'American modernity,' Duggan captures our interest with the sensational tale of lesbian love murder but then insists that we read this tale through turn-of-the-century debates over racial violence and against the backdrop of the medicalization of homosexuality. Sapphic Slashers has 'classic' written all over it." - Judith Halberstam, author of Female Masculinity