Vanishing Source Materials and Medieval Arabic Lesbianism, by Boyda Johnstone

Boyda Johnstone is a teacher, academic, and activist living in Jersey City NJ who has a PhD in medieval literature. She teaches at Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY) and has written blogs on feminism, productivity, and late capitalism. You can follow her on twitter at @boydajosa.

 Who knew that grinding saffron could become a potent metaphor for lesbian sex? Or that the first Arabic lesbian was known to have fallen in love with a Christian woman? These are just some of the magnificant findings I came across this summer when researching a project on medieval Arabic lesbians. Unfortunately, research projects like this one are often beset with access problems and a distortion of original materials by prejudiced, conservative, and western-biased editors. This project crystallizes the alarming rate at which early period materials are vanishing, those which can aid so deeply in the work of challenging reductive models of history. It also underscores the urgency with which we must work to preserve and recover old materials in an academically responsible manner.

Read More