Gertrude Stein's Transmasculinity

Book info: Gertrude Stein's Transmasculinity (Hardcover, 344 pages) – Edinburgh University Press, 2018. Language: English.

Argues that Gertrude Stein’s gender can best be described as 'transmasculine’This thoughtful and sophisticated book views Gertrude Stein’s life and writings through the lens of transgender theory.  Reframing earlier scholarship that falsely assumes that Stein’s masculinity was a misogynist manifestation of self-hatred, Chris Coffman argues that her gender was transmasculine and affirms her masculinity as a vital force in her life and work. This book uses Stein’s writings – and others’ literary and visual texts about her – to illuminate the ways her transmasculinity was formed through her relationship with her feminine partner, Alice B. Toklas, and through her masculine homosocial bonds with modernist figures such as Jane Heap, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Carl Van Vechten.Key Features:Reads Stein’s experimental writing through transgender theoryApproaches Gertrude Stein’s masculinity and relationship with Alice B. Toklas through transgender theoryExamines Stein’s masculine homosocial bonds with male modernists such as Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Carl Van VechtenOffers new readings of materials from the Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas Papers at Yale University’s Beinecke Library

From the Back Cover ‘Gertrude Stein’s Transmasculinity is a distinctive contribution to modernist scholarship and to queer studies. Through the concept of “transmasculinity”, Coffman shows that Stein criticism has consistently missed something very important, something that changes how we conceive Stein’s identity, importance and place among male modernist peers.’Merrill Cole, Western Illinois UniversityArgues that Gertrude Stein’s gender can best be described as 'transmasculine’This thoughtful and sophisticated book views Gertrude Stein’s life and writings through the lens of transgender theory. Reframing earlier scholarship that falsely assumes that Stein’s masculinity was a misogynist manifestation of self-hatred, Chris Coffman argues that her gender was transmasculine and affirms her masculinity as a vital force in her life and work.This book uses Stein’s writings – and others’ literary and visual texts about her – to illuminate the ways her transmasculinity was formed through her relationship with her feminine partner, Alice B. Toklas, and through her masculine homosocial bonds with modernist figures such as Jane Heap, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Carl Van Vechten.Chris Coffman is Professor of English at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.Cover image: Gertrude Stein, undated portrait © akg-imagesCover design:[EUP logo]edinburghuniversitypress.comISBN 978-1-4744-3809-4Barcode About the Author Chris Coffman is Professor in the Department of English, and Affiliated Faculty, Women's and Gender Studies Program, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, US. She is the author of Insane Passions: Lesbianism and Psychosis in Literature and Film (Wesleyan University Press, 2006).