Outlander's Sassenachs: Essays on Gender, Race, Orientation and the Other in the Novels and Television Series

by Valerie Estelle Frankel

Overview

A time travel epic featuring history and romance, Outlander--unlike most adventure series--is aimed at women audiences. The kilted male characters, the female narrator, the fantastic period costumes are atypical of male-gendered television. Both the show and the novels on which it is based address issues most series shy away from, like breast feeding, abortion and birth control. Role reversals are common--the powerful Claire rescues her virginal husband Jamie from sexual abuse. When the villainous Black Jack Randall displays his genitals to the heroine Jenny, she laughs.

This collection of new essays examines Outlander as an exploration of what it means to be a capable 18th century woman and what it means in the modern world. As Claire explores different models of strength in both periods, Jamie comes to understand the nuances of male honor, power and alternative sexuality through the contrasting figures of Black Jack and Lord John. As the heroes negotiate the complications of marriage and life, they make discoveries about gender that resonate with modern audiences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476664248
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	07/04/2016
Pages:	172
Sales rank:	550,438
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Valerie Estelle Frankel teaches English at Mission College and San Jose City College. The author of more than 90 popular culture books and more than 100 stories and essays, she lives in Sunnyvale, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I Questions of Diversity

Privilege and Pity: Jamie on Slavery, Racism and Disability Valerie Estelle Frankel 5

Culloden and Wounded Knee: Genocide, Identity and Cultural Survival Sandi Solis 17

Claire Kens Well: Appropriation and Itinerant Performance in Outlander Onscreen Elizabeth Elaine Tavares 31

Part II Eighteenth-Century Masculinity

Gazing at Jamie Fraser Araceli R. Lopez 44

Jamie's "Others": Complicating Masculinity and Heroism Through His Foils Jennifer Phillips 54

Being Lord John: Homosexual Life in Georgian London Valerie Estelle Frankel 68

Part III Women's Choice for Time Travelers

Men, Women and Birth Control in the Early Outlander Books Nicole M. Duplessis 82

The Beaton: Healing as Empowerment for Claire Beauchamp Sarah Stegall 97

Part IV Claire as Feminist, Postfeminist, Anti-Feminist

Reviewing Linear Time: History Repeating All Over Again (Now, Against You) Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns Leonardo G.A. Lando 105

The Way We Were: Nostalgia, Romance and Anti-Feminism Victoria Kennedy 117

Outlander from Book to Screen: Power in Gender and Orientation Yvonne D. Leach 130

Appendix A Book Reading Order 153

Appendix B Television Episode Guide 155

Appendix C Television Cast 157

About the Contributors 159

Index 161