Wishing for political dominance: representations of history and community in queer theory

Thomas Piontek contends that 'for many people their sense of being gay relies intensely on literary representations' (137). Though his argument refers mainly to fiction, in this essay I want to extend Piontek's contention and suggest that one's sense of one's self and one's sexuality may also have a close relationship to non-fiction texts about gay and lesbian cultures. Indeed, Michael Hurley points out that in the nineteen seventies 'The dominant genre of lesbian and gay writing was non-fiction' ('Introduction' 19). Among the most important texts about lesbian and gay cultures in contemporary Australia is Annamarie Jagose's Queer Theory (1996). The popularity and authority of this book in contemporary literary and cultural studies, as well as among gay and lesbian readers, make it an object of significance for Australian literary studies.