Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Feeling and the production of lesbian space in The L Word

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 21; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/0966369x.2013.810594

1360-0524

Sarah Cefai,

Gender, Feminism, and Media

AbstractThis article seeks to understand the production of lesbian space in the TV series The L Word (TLW) (Showtime 2004–2009). To do so, it departs from theories of the lesbian gaze to discuss the visibility of feeling. Specifically, I consider how TLW represents the visibility of feeling as constitutive of lesbian bodies, communities and spaces. In TLW, real spaces (actual locations) fold into virtual ones (on screen) in a deliberate construction of televisual lesbian space. TLW implicitly reflects and is embedded within real-life configurations of lesbian space. I identify four excerpts from the series – 'gay LA', 'the pool', 'Olivia cruise' and 'High Art' – that problematise lesbian visibility by foregrounding the relationship between feeling and place. Permission to feel, represented as permission to look, reproduces community as the threshold of lesbian identity. Critical to understanding this production of lesbian space is the way in which TLW associates feeling with social relationships as vividly depicted by 'the chart', a representational motif that maps lesbian sexual relations and the intelligibility of lesbian feeling. Finally, I develop my account of lesbian visibility through the example of the facial expression of feeling, at once a demonstration of the visible embodiment of lesbian feeling, and the intelligibility of lesbian space.El sentir y la producción del espacio lésbico en The L WordEste artículo busca entender la producción del espacio lésbico en la serie de TV The L Word (TLW) (Showtime 2004 Showtime. 2004–2009. The L Word, created and directed by I. Chaiken. USA. [Google Scholar]–2009). Para lograrlo, parte de teorías de la mirada lesbiana para discutir la visibilidad del sentimiento. Específicamente, considero cómo TLW representa la visibilidad del sentimiento como constitutivo de los cuerpos, las comunidades, y los espacios lésbicos. En TLW los espacios reales (las ubicaciones reales) se pliegan en espacios virtuales (en la pantalla) en una construcción deliberada del espacio lésbico televisual. TLW refleja implícitamente y está insertado en las configuraciones de la vida real del espacio lésbico. Identifico cuatro fragmentos de la serie – "LA gay", "la piscina", "El crucero de Olivia" y "Bellas artes" – que problematizan la visibilidad lésbica poniendo en un primer plano las relaciones entre el sentimiento y el lugar. El permiso para sentir, representado como permiso para mirar, reproduce la comunidad como el umbral de la identidad lésbica. Crucial para comprender esta producción del espacio lésbico es la forma en la que TLW asocia el sentir con las relaciones sociales como descripta vívidamente por "el cuadro", un motivo representacional que mapea las relaciones sexuales lésbicas y la inteligibilidad del sentimiento lésbico. Finalmente, desarrollo mi relato de la visibilidad lésbica a través del ejemplo de la expresión facial del sentir, al mismo tiempo una demostración de la encarnación visible del sentimiento lésbico, y la inteligibilidad del espacio lésbico."拉字至上" 中的感觉与女同性恋空间生产本文旨在理解"拉字至上" (The L World; TWL)电视影集中女同性恋的空间生产(放映时间为2004年至2009年)。为此,我将从女同性恋的凝视理论出发,探讨感觉的可见性。我将特别考量"拉字至上" 如何将感觉的可见性再现为女同性恋者身体、社群与空间的构组成分。在该影集中,真实空间(实际的地点)在女同性恋电视空间的细緻建构中,混入(屏幕上的)虚拟空间。"拉字至上" 暗中反应并镶嵌于真实生活中女同性恋的空间构组。我将指认影集中的四个节录——"同性恋洛杉矶"、" 泳池" 、"奥丽维亚航程" 与"高端艺术"——透过凸显感觉与地方的关係,问题化女同性恋的可见性。允许感觉(permission to feel),呈现为允许观看(permission to look),再生产了社群做为女同性恋身份认同的门槛。理解此一女同性恋空间再生产的关键,在于"拉字至上" 将感觉与社会关係连结的方式,并清晰地描绘于剧裡的"人物关係图" (the chart)中——一个绘製女同性恋者间的性关係,以及女同性恋感觉的可辨识性的再现图。文末,我将透过感觉的脸部表情案例,建构我对女同性恋可见性的解释,并立即证实女同性恋感觉的可见体现,以及女同性恋空间的可辨识性。Keywords:: lesbian visibilityfeelingspace and placeThe L WordrepresentationPalabras claves:: lesbianasentimientoespacio y lugarvisibilidadThe L Wordrepresentación关键词:: 女同性恋感觉空间与地方可见性拉字至上再现 AcknowledgementsAs this work developed, I am grateful to have received comments from Kerryn Drysdale, Melissa Gregg, Emilie Jervis, Ailsa Kay, Kate O'Halloran, Lee Wallace and two anonymous reviewers. I also thank Lynda Johnston for her editorial advice.Additional informationNotes on contributorsSarah CefaiSarah Cefai is an international scholar based in Australia and working in the fields of sexuality, feminist theory and cultural studies. Her scholarship concerns relations of power, knowledge and feeling in contemporary life. She has been a researcher for a number of universities, including in the area of Indigenous policy at The Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University. She is a tutor at the University of Western Sydney and Macquarie University and has previously taught at the University of Sydney and Charles Darwin University. She was awarded her PhD by the University of Sydney in 2012.