SOURCE: "'I Just Loved Thelma': Djuna Barnes and the Construction of Bisexuality," in Review of Contemporary Fiction, Vol. 13, No. 3, Fall, 1993, pp. 53-61.

In the following essay, Michel analyzes the role of sexual identity in Barnes's life and works.

When asked about her sexuality, Djuna Barnes is reported to have answered, "I'm not a lesbian, I just loved Thelma."¹ Given Barnes's apparent uneasiness with categorization, it is perhaps not surprising that readers of her work are divided over whether she is best read as a lesbian or as a homophobic writer. In particular, critics have debated whether Ladies Almanack celebrates or attacks lesbians. But the current move to include the identity "bisexual" within queer politics may provide a new way of approaching these questions. Although Barnes never identified herself as bisexual, her position was fluid throughout her life and from book to book.

Moreover, there are some intriguing similarities...