The Literature Network - Willa Cather and Brandon Teena: the politics of passing.

Willa Cather and Brandon Teena: the politics of passing.

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From: Women and Language
Date: 19970322
Author:Helvie, Sherri

The lives of author Willa Cather and murder victim Brandon Teena are used to illustrate how language inadequately explains the lives, genders and sexualities of individuals that are considered deviant. Willa Cather changed her name to William Cather Jr., donned male attire and lived openly as a lesbian while 21-year-old Brandon Teena was discovered to be Teena Brandon after she was murdered by two men on Dec. 31, 1993.

Recent Cather scholarship has encountered a most formidable foe: language. The insightful analyses of scholars such as Sharon O'Brien, Judith Fetterly, Joanna Russ, and ...

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