--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But since we’re on the topic of identity…" description: "\"“But since we’re on the topic of identity and narrative voice - here’s an interesting conundrum. You may know that The Correspondence Artist won a Lamb..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b8/barbara-browning-47689_gender_but-since-we-re-on-the-topic-of-identity_834834.jpg" --- # But since we’re on the topic of identity and narrative… ![“But since we’re on the topic of identity and narrative voice - here’s an interesting conundrum. You may know that The Correspondence Artist won a Lambda Award. I love the Lambda Literary Foundation, and I was thrilled to win a Lammy. My book won in the category of “Bisexual Fiction.” The Awards…” quote by Barbara Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b8/barbara-browning-47689_gender_but-since-we-re-on-the-topic-of-identity_834834.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b8/barbara-browning-47689_gender_but-since-we-re-on-the-topic-of-identity_834834.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b8/barbara-browning-47689_gender_but-since-we-re-on-the-topic-of-identity_834834.jpg) > ““But since we’re on the topic of identity and narrative voice - here’s an interesting conundrum. You may know that The Correspondence Artist won a Lambda Award. I love the Lambda Literary Foundation, and I was thrilled to win a Lammy. My book won in the category of “Bisexual Fiction.” The Awards (or nearly all of them) are categorized according to the sexual identity of the dominant character in a work of fiction, not the author. I’m not sure if “dominant” is the word they use, but you get the idea. The foregrounded character. In The Correspondence Artist, the narrator is a woman, but you’re never sure about the gender of her lover. You’re also never sure about the lover’s age or ethnicity - these things change too, and pretty dramatically. Also, sometimes when the narrator corresponds with her lover by email, she (the narrator) makes reference to her “hard on.” That is, part of her erotic play with her lover has to do with destabilizing the ways she refers to her own sex (by which I mean both gender and naughty bits). So really, the narrator and her lover are only verifiably “bisexual” in the Freudian sense of the term - that is, it’s unclear if they have sex with people of the same sex, but they each have a complex gender identity that shifts over time. Looking at the various possible categorizations for that book, I think “Bisexual Fiction” was the most appropriate, but better, of course, would have been “Queer Fiction.” Maybe even trans, though surely that would have raised some hackles. So, I just submitted I’m Trying to Reach You for this year’s Lambda Awards and I had to choose a category. Well. As I said, the narrator identifies as a gay man. I guess you’d say the primary erotic relationship is with his boyfriend, Sven. But he has an obsession with a weird middle-aged white lady dancer on YouTube who happens to be me, and ultimately you come to understand that she is involved in an erotic relationship with a lesbian electric guitarist. And this romance isn’t just a titillating spectacle for a voyeuristic narrator: it turns out to be the founding myth of our national poetics! They are Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman! Sorry for all the spoilers. I never mind spoilers because I never read for plot. Maybe the editor (hello Emily) will want to head plot-sensitive readers off at the pass if you publish this paragraph. Anyway, the question then is: does authorial self-referentiality matter? Does the national mythos matter? Is this a work of Bisexual or Lesbian Fiction? Is Walt trans? I ended up submitting the book as Gay (Male) Fiction. The administrator of the prizes also thought this was appropriate, since Gray is the narrator. And Gray is not me, but also not not me, just as Emily Dickinson is not me but also not not me, and Walt Whitman is not my lover but also not not my lover. Again, it’s a really queer book, but the point is kind of to trip you up about what you thought you knew about gender anyway.”” [Barbara Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-browning/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Categorizing literature by identity can limit complex narratives, suggesting broader labels like “Queer Fiction.” **In simple terms:** Labels can restrict nuanced stories. Key Takeaway Advocate for inclusive categories. Themes identity literature representation Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical reflective When to use this quote - publishing decisions - award nominations - reader expectations - marketing strategies Key Concepts Queer theory gender fluidity categorization challenges Questions to Reflect On - Should awards adopt more fluid categories? - How do labels affect reader perception? A Different Perspective Risk of oversimplifying diverse experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bisexual Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bisexual-fiction-591032/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emily-dickinson/) [Gender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gender/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Lambda Literary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lambda-literary-591031/) [Narrator Corresponds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrator-corresponds-591033/) [Narrator Lover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrator-lover-591034/) [Queer Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/queer-fiction-591035/) [Sexuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexuality/) [Things change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-change/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walt-whitman/) ## Related quotes > [“Of course one’s sense of identification with the nation is inflected by all kinds of particulars, including one’s class, race, gender, and sexual identification.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-browning/of-course-one-s-sense-of-identification-with-the-nation-is-inflected/) [Barbara Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-browning/) > [When the good pictures come, we hope they tell truths, but truths 'told slant,' just as Emily Dickinson commanded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/when-the-good-pictures-come-we-hope-they-tell-truths-but-truths-told/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [And you read your emily dickinson, And I my robert frost. 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I love the Lambda Literary Foundation, and I was thrilled to win a Lammy. My book won in the category of “Bisexual Fiction.” The Awards (or nearly all of them) are categorized according to the sexual identity of the dominant character in a work of fiction, not the author. I’m not sure if “dominant” is the word they use, but you get the idea. The foregrounded character. In The Correspondence Artist, the narrator is a woman, but you’re never sure about the gender of her lover. You’re also never sure about the lover’s age or ethnicity - these things change too, and pretty dramatically. Also, sometimes when the narrator corresponds with her lover by email, she (the narrator) makes reference to her “hard on.” That is, part of her erotic play with her lover has to do with destabilizing the ways she refers to her own sex (by which I mean both gender and naughty bits). So really, the narrator and her lover are only verifiably “bisexual” in the Freudian sense of the term - that is, it’s unclear if they have sex with people of the same sex, but they each have a complex gender identity that shifts over time. Looking at the various possible categorizations for that book, I think “Bisexual Fiction” was the most appropriate, but better, of course, would have been “Queer Fiction.” Maybe even trans, though surely that would have raised some hackles. So, I just submitted I’m Trying to Reach You for this year’s Lambda Awards and I had to choose a category. Well. As I said, the narrator identifies as a gay man. I guess you’d say the primary erotic relationship is with his boyfriend, Sven. But he has an obsession with a weird middle-aged white lady dancer on YouTube who happens to be me, and ultimately you come to understand that she is involved in an erotic relationship with a lesbian electric guitarist. And this romance isn’t just a titillating spectacle for a voyeuristic narrator: it turns out to be the founding myth of our national poetics! They are Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman! Sorry for all the spoilers. I never mind spoilers because I never read for plot. Maybe the editor (hello Emily) will want to head plot-sensitive readers off at the pass if you publish this paragraph. Anyway, the question then is: does authorial self-referentiality matter? Does the national mythos matter? Is this a work of Bisexual or Lesbian Fiction? Is Walt trans? I ended up submitting the book as Gay (Male) Fiction. The administrator of the prizes also thought this was appropriate, since Gray is the narrator. And Gray is not me, but also not not me, just as Emily Dickinson is not me but also not not me, and Walt Whitman is not my lover but also not not my lover. Again, it’s a really queer book, but the point is kind of to trip you up about what you thought you knew about gender anyway.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Barbara Browning" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-browning/but-since-we-re-on-the-topic-of-identity-and-narrative-voice-here-s/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gender" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-browning/but-since-we-re-on-the-topic-of-identity-and-narrative-voice-here-s/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b8/barbara-browning-47689_gender_but-since-we-re-on-the-topic-of-identity_834834.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b8/barbara-browning-47689_gender_but-since-we-re-on-the-topic-of-identity_834834.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b8/barbara-browning-47689_gender_but-since-we-re-on-the-topic-of-identity_834834.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But since we’re on the topic of identity and narrative voice - here’s an interesting conundrum. 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