Writing the Voice of Pleasure - Heterosexuality without Women (Hardcover)

Writing the Voice of Pleasure makes a persuasive argument that the romantic couple of Western representation is not heterosexual; nor is it homosexual. With insightful new readings of Western culture from Tristan and Yseut to Seinfeld, Anne Callahan demonstrates that the illusion of heterosexuality is created by a male artist’s assumption of a feminine voice to express desire. Named the “troubadour effect” for the first time here, this tradition of male femininity in writing results in a culture of desire best described as “heterosexuality without women.” Illuminating her argument with striking examples from early troubadours to Toni Morrison, Callahan shows how women writers inscribe their “vagabondage,” a term she coins to name the consequences of the “troubadour effect” for women’s agency as both writers and lovers.