Jeanette Winterson's Lighthousekeeping and the Queer Uncanny

Abstract

This essay considers the relation between the queer and the uncanny, and in particular the uncanny as it functions in relation to the postmodern writings of Jeanette Winterson. In view of current criticism suggesting that a lesbian feminist reading of Winterson’s more recent writings is increasingly difficult to sustain, the essay explores how a conception of the relation between the uncanny and the queer may facilitate new readings of Winterson’s less programmatic texts, focusing mainly on her 2004 novel Lighthousekeeping.