Until the 2000s, queer literature was understood as identical to gay fiction. Existing queer literature research is mainly divided into genealogical studies of gay fiction in the 1910-1930s and studies of gay fiction since the 1990s. Studies of gay motif fiction since the 1990s mostly deal with male homosexuality, and is problematic because it does not distinguish between various sexual orientations and sexual identities. When studying gay fiction since the 1990s, lesbian fiction and lesbian characters need to be studied separately.
This paper studies lesbian fiction written by female authors since the 1990s and distinguishes the characteristics of gay fiction and lesbian fiction. The objects of study are short stories from the 2000s, which show similar character and narrative features to those from the 1990s. To study lesbian fiction, the theory of lesbian feminism is used instead of queer theory, which has been mainly used in queer literature criticism. Utilizing the main concepts of Adrienne Rich’s <Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence>, the distinctive ''femininity'' of lesbian characters is recognized and the need for lesbian narratives is presented.
Rich thought that in order to break the frame of compulsory heterosexuality, one should perceive the ‘lesbian existence’ which signifies the lesbian as a historical being, not the meaning of lesbian defined by a male-dominated heterosexual society. Rich also suggested the concept of a ‘lesbian continuum’ in which lesbians and heterosexual women share the same experience and exist within a continuum. ‘Common language’ refers to the language of experience with which women identify each other’s existence and form a community. Rich sought to unearth the records of women whose history had been erased, and a prime example was the discovery of lesbian existence. Rich’s ‘common language’ sought to destroy stereotyped femininity through various women’s records, which is similar to Rita Felski’s wariness against fixed femaleness.
In order to analyze lesbian novels in the 1990s and 2000s, one must understand the characteristics of the 1990s. First, in the 1990s, women’s novels written by female writers gained popularity. It is noteworthy that most female writers and readers attended university in the 1980s. This is because they were a generation that experienced feminism and led the women''s movement while attending university. They were able to recognize female consciousness and work on identity through novels by female writers.
The 1990s also marked the beginning of the LGBT human rights movement in earnest, and the expansion of the LGBT community. In the early 2000s, the presence of LGBT people grew in the public as socially influential people came out. This is also why homosexual characters often appeared in literary works in the 1990s and 2000s. However, the public''s attention also created misconceptions and prejudices regarding LGBT people.
The reason why characters in lesbian fiction since the 1990s are distorted is because misunderstanding and preconceptions of homosexuals and lesbians are projected in them. In this paper lesbian fictions of the time are divided into three character types and the problems of each type are analyzed. The three types are characters that have ‘trauma or morbidity,’ ‘a distorted desire of the disabled body’ and are ‘bisexual or gynesexual.’ These lesbian characters are made from distorted information and prejudice and can work as a mechanism of discrimination and violence against minorities. They are also different from real world lesbians because they are not aware of their identity and are merely involved in homosexual acts.
The typical characteristics of figures in lesbian fiction since the 1990s continues until the 2000s. However, Yoon I-hyung’s 2007 "The Scream" features a new lesbian character that breaks this stereotype. This figure shares her experiences with heterosexual women, and is accepted by heterosexual women as inside the lesbian continuum. This narrative can be read as a female community narrative in which the speakers identify and construct ‘common language’ through each other’s stories.
Finally, poetry in the same period as the novels above is read in terms of ‘female experience’ and ‘common language’. This is a critical attempt to confirm that lesbian feminism theory is not only about lesbian narrative but also about discovering various women. The poetic narrators of Jin Eun-young’s 2008 collection of poems, "Us, Day By Day," are composed of ‘she’s. Among them, expanding the scope of ‘female’ through a narrator with a sense of girlhood is a new attempt. These ‘she’s, also called ‘me’ and ‘you,’ speak of their personal experiences but share a common sense of ‘we’. "Us, Day By Day," by female narrators is practicing ‘common language’ as poetry.
Through analysis of lesbian fiction and women’s poetry since the 1990s, this paper confirms that lesbian feminism theory has the critical potential to discover the uniqueness and diversity of ‘women.’ And the critical potential of lesbian feminism gives us an anticipation that we will be able to appraise the diversifying queer literature with a new perspective.