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ABSTRACT
This article discusses Sarah Schulman's 1993 novel Empathy in the context of contemporary debates about the politics of identity and location. It begins by discussing the impact of challenges from postmodernism and from Black, post-colonial and lesbian feminisms on feminist theories of identity, highlighting the concepts of diversity and intrasexual difference. The article goes on to explore Schulman's novel as an example of contemporary lesbian feminist fiction which engages these debates both in its subject matter, by deconstructing the categories of “race,' gender and sexuality and, formally, in its use of postmodern stylistic devices. It argues that Schulman's novel represents both a postmodern critique of essentialist theories of gender identity, recognising the multiple locations of subjects, and a feminist critique of postmodern cultural relativism and political irresponsibility, insisting on the realities of social injustice. The main part of the article examines Schulman's treatment of four key issues: psychoanalysis and theories of sexual difference which pathologise lesbianism; heterosexism as reproducing women's oppression in patriarchy; the politics of representation whereby lesbian desire is written out; and American cultural imperialism and ethnocentrism. The article concludes by highlighting Schulman's assertion that empathy constitutes a valuable political stance in postmodern times.
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Notes on contributors
Sonya Andermahr
Sonya Andermahr is Principal Lecturer in English and Women's Studies at University College, Northampton, UK. In addition to several articles on lesbian and feminist fiction and popular culture, she has written (with Terry Lovell and Carol Wolkowitz) A Glossary of Feminist Fiction (Edward Arnold, 1997) and is co-editor (with Gabriele Griffin) of Straight Studies Modified: Lesbian Interventions in the Academy (Cassell, 1997).