Lesbian Political Literature in Early 20th Century

Lesbians: are they women?

This question was posed satirically by journalist and political activist, Minna Wettstein-Adelt. In 1901 she published her first novel, Are they women?, portraying a group of lesbian medical students in Switzerland. The novel is not only one of the earliest novels openly discussing romantic and sexual relationships between women but also centres around a successful lesbian relationship as an ideal of love. Fifteen years later in the United States, Djuna Barnes published her Book of Repulsive Women, Alice Duer Miller published Are Women People? A Book of Rhymes for Suffrage Times, and Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (a Dadaist artist, sound-poet, and lover of Djuna Barnes) published Body Sweats. Today, Helena considers these four extraordinary women – Minna Wettstein-Adelt, Djuna Barnes, Alice Duer Miller, and Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven – and how their international artistic collaboration and deep beliefs about lesbian solidarity influenced political action, female suffrage, and literary output.

The work of these women remains vital in lesbian history, women’s suffrage movements, and modernist experimentation in literature. They provide a striking example of how lesbians have constantly sought each other out to offer support and exchange ideas, even more important in our world of increasingly repressive politics. In revisiting their lives and rereading their stories, we question what example they set for us today.

We are committed to making our sessions as accessible as possible. If you are unable to pay the full amount for this class, please reach out to us via email at [email protected] and we will provide you with a discount code.