Gay Studies from the French Cultures

Book excerpt: Now English-speaking readers can gain new access to valuable information on homosexuality and homosociality written by French-speaking scholars and researchers. Gay Studies From the French Cultures contains work taken from symposia held by the Research and Study Group on Homosociality and Homosexualities (GREH) in France over the past several years. GREH, founded by Mendès-Leite in 1986, is a forum and university network designed to open and enrich debate and interdisciplinary research on homosociality, homosexuality, and lesbianism. The chapters, all translated from their original French, represent a mosaic of scholars from Brazil, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Canada, as well as France, giving readers a broad perspective on the subject. Although authors share cultural roots and connections through GREH, the book contains a deliberate disparity of topics and points of view from French-speaking persons in the western hemisphere, seeking to heighten understanding through diversity. The book is divided into three parts: Theoretical Background, Lesbian History and Commentary, and Gay Male History and Commentary. Some of the various topics discussed include: theoretical background on sexualities and gender studies gay and lesbian history homosexuality and AIDS nineteenth century's French gay and lesbian history sociology of Brazilian homosexualities French-spoken Canadian history on sexualities historiographies An enlightening volume, Gay Studies From the French Cultures provides a bridge between English-language and Francophone research on homosexuality, increasing the knowledge, awareness, and understanding of a whole new group of readers.