My analysis of the expression and repression of desire in German lesbian
narratives is informed by texts from sexology, psychoanalysis, feminist and
lesbian criticism, as well as queer theory. It entails a close examination of the
narrative strategies, elements, and styles used by the authors to inscribe the lesbian
experience, and by extension lesbian desire, into literature. How does the lesbian
manifest herself in these texts? How is she able to assert her subjectivity and
exercise agency as pertains to her desire? What narrative strategies are used by the
authors to effect this expression of agency, and what are the narrative
consequences of the utilization of such strategies? What are the narrative spaces
and structures used to signify lesbian desire, and what are the narrative constraints
that limit or refuse the expression of lesbian desire? How does lesbian desire
constitute itself in these texts? What is the function of writing lesbian desire?