The Practice of Love Lesbian Sexuality and Perverse Desire [Paperback]

... a work that builds a substantial bridge between Freudian psychoanalysis and radical feminist thought, particularly on the subject of lesbianism.... Presenting a complex argument about an issue vital to the psychoanalytic endeavor as well as to feminist theory, The Practice of Love should stimulate a reconsideration of perversion and the construction of sexual fantasy. The illumination of the fantasies that make lesbian desire distinctive will necessarily open up our understanding of all sexuality. Jessica Benjamin, New York Times Book Review

Teresa de Lauretis has entwined three books into one: a critical history of psychoanalytic theories of female homosexuality; a bold study of how lesbians keep disappearing from popular culture, especially film; and an original speculation on the dynamics of lesbian desire. Elisabeth Young-Bruehl

An important and original contribution not only to lesbian and gay studies, but also to psychoanalytic theory and film criticism. De Lauretis brings a unique and valuable perspective to issues of great importance today in all these areas. Leo Bersani

De Lauretiss influential theory gets top marks from sapphic scholars who know best. Out

In an eccentric reading of Freud through Laplanche and the Lacanian and feminist revisions, Teresa de Lauretis delineates a model of perverse desire and a theory of lesbian sexuality. The Practice of Love discusses classic psychoanalytic narratives of female homosexuality, contemporary feminist writings on female sexuality, and the evolution of the original fantasies into cultural myths or public fantasies.

Teresa de Lauretis is Professor of the History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of Alice Doesn't: Feminism, Semiotics, Cinema and Technologies of Gender and the editor of Feminist Studies/Critical Studies and of Queer Theory: Lesbian and Gay Sexualities (a special issue of the journal differences).

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