Chase Gregory is Assistant Professor of English at Bucknell University.

“Can a man write as a woman? Can a white lesbian write as a black lesbian? . . . As if! Staging a surprising, yet timely return to early queer and gay/lesbian criticism’s experimentations with cross-identifications across gender and race, As If! masterfully demonstrates how all identifications, even those with identities to which one legitimately ‘belongs,’ are at once generative and fraught.” - Kadji Amin, author of Disturbing Attachments: Genet, Modern Pederasty, and Queer History “Chase Gregory’s insightful readings return us to the early days of queer theory to track how scholars enacted cross-identification within their literary criticism. As If! is an important, revelatory, and groundbreaking reinterpretation of queer theory’s methods that develops an account of queer reading that will inspire a new generation to take seriously the playful and politically generative possibilities of cross-identification.” - Teagan Bradway, author of Queer Experimental Literature: The Affective Politics of Bad Reading

• Acknowledgments vii Introduction. Reading and Writing As If! 1 1. Miscarrying On 19 2. Barbara Johnson’s Passing 48 3. Shock Therapy 83 4. Gale-Male-Oriented and Now 110 Conclusion. On Recognition 139 Notes 147 Bibliography 167 Index 177

Chase Gregory is Assistant Professor of English at Bucknell University.

“Can a man write as a woman? Can a white lesbian write as a black lesbian? . . . As if! Staging a surprising, yet timely return to early queer and gay/lesbian criticism’s experimentations with cross-identifications across gender and race, As If! masterfully demonstrates how all identifications, even those with identities to which one legitimately ‘belongs,’ are at once generative and fraught.” - Kadji Amin, author of Disturbing Attachments: Genet, Modern Pederasty, and Queer History “Chase Gregory’s insightful readings return us to the early days of queer theory to track how scholars enacted cross-identification within their literary criticism. As If! is an important, revelatory, and groundbreaking reinterpretation of queer theory’s methods that develops an account of queer reading that will inspire a new generation to take seriously the playful and politically generative possibilities of cross-identification.” - Teagan Bradway, author of Queer Experimental Literature: The Affective Politics of Bad Reading

• Acknowledgments vii Introduction. Reading and Writing As If! 1 1. Miscarrying On 19 2. Barbara Johnson’s Passing 48 3. Shock Therapy 83 4. Gale-Male-Oriented and Now 110 Conclusion. On Recognition 139 Notes 147 Bibliography 167 Index 177

Chase Gregory is Assistant Professor of English at Bucknell University.

“Can a man write as a woman? Can a white lesbian write as a black lesbian? . . . As if! Staging a surprising, yet timely return to early queer and gay/lesbian criticism’s experimentations with cross-identifications across gender and race, As If! masterfully demonstrates how all identifications, even those with identities to which one legitimately ‘belongs,’ are at once generative and fraught.” - Kadji Amin, author of Disturbing Attachments: Genet, Modern Pederasty, and Queer History “Chase Gregory’s insightful readings return us to the early days of queer theory to track how scholars enacted cross-identification within their literary criticism. As If! is an important, revelatory, and groundbreaking reinterpretation of queer theory’s methods that develops an account of queer reading that will inspire a new generation to take seriously the playful and politically generative possibilities of cross-identification.” - Teagan Bradway, author of Queer Experimental Literature: The Affective Politics of Bad Reading

• Acknowledgments vii Introduction. Reading and Writing As If! 1 1. Miscarrying On 19 2. Barbara Johnson’s Passing 48 3. Shock Therapy 83 4. Gale-Male-Oriented and Now 110 Conclusion. On Recognition 139 Notes 147 Bibliography 167 Index 177