The Diva's Mouth: Body, Voice, and Prima Donna Politics
Author(s): Susan J. Leonardi (Author), Rebecca A. Pope (Author)
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Publication Date: November 1, 1996
Edition: First Edition
Language: English
Print length: 312 pages
ISBN-10: 0813523044
ISBN-13: 9780813523040
Book Description
Like the divine, divas, it seems, are omnipresent. From the sirens to Madonna, from castrati to Callas, from opera stage to drag shows to TV commercials, from George Eliot to writers of detective fiction, the diva has been worshipped, feared, maligned, parodied, and appropriated. The Diva’s Mouth: Bodies, Voice, and Prima Donna Politics examines how and why, from the eighteenth century to the present, divas have been talked about with so much passion and written up, down, and over with so much ambiguity and contradiction. The book explores the myriad roles the diva plays in masculinist, feminist, and queer imaginations–in opera itself and in other fictions, films, and fantasies, including the divas’ (and the authors’) own. Finally, it examines how and why pop and “pomo” singers, like Madonna, Annie Lennox, and Diamanda Galas, in very explicit ways both flirt with and fling off the fantasy of the woman with a voice. In this very witty and highly readable book, the authors tell everything you always wanted to know and make you want to know even more about the diva.
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
The diva has always been at the center of gay male sensibility. From Madama Butterfly to Madonna, from Jenny Lind to Judy Garland, gay men have admired, adored, and even occasionally admonished the fabulous female star. In The Diva’s Mouth Susan Leonardi and Rebecca Pope place a feminist spin on the diva that repositions her from simply being enjoyed to being empowered. With references that range from Geraldine Ferraro to George Eliot, from Trilby to Annie Lennox, The Diva’s Mouth explores the ramifications of a woman controlling the stage and the imagination of an audience. Lucidly written, full of information–both arcane and useful–and rivetingly argued, The Diva’s Mouth is cultural criticism at its best.
Review
A lucid, original, immensely enjoyable guide to the Wide World of Divas. Rebecca Pope and Susan Leonardi–tow female opera lovers who write singingly as one–offer the best account yet of the diva’s exotic erotic, ambiguous appeal. — Terry Castle, author of The Apparitional Lesbian: Female Homosexuality and Modern Culture
At last–the welcome other side of Catherine Clement’s diva tale[Opera, or the Undoing of Women]: here is ‘opera, or the doings of women.’ —
Linda Hutcheon and Michael Hutcheon, authors of Opera: Desire, Disease, and Death
You don’t have to be an opera-diva admirer or a pop-diva fan to savor this savvy, joyous paean to the politics and erotics of the female voice. If you happen to be either, though, you’ll relish it. —
Susan Gubar, Indiana University
From the Back Cover
Like the divas, it seems, are omnipresent. From the sirens to Madonna, from castrati to Callas, from opera stage to drag shows to TV commercials, from George Eliot to writers of detective fiction, the diva has been worshipped, feared, maligned, parodied, and appropriated. The Diva’s Mouth: Body, Voice, Prima Donna Politics examines how and why from the eighteenth century to the present, divas have been talked about with so much passion and written up, down, and over with so much ambiguity and contradiction. The book explores the myriad roles the diva plays in masculinist, feminist, and queer imaginations–in opera itself and in other fictions, films and fantasies, including the divas’ (and the authors’) own. Finally, it examines how and why pop and “pomo” singers, like Madonna, Annie Lennox, and Diamanda Galas, in very explicit ways flirt with, fling off, and fulfill the fantasy of the women with a voice. In this very witty and highly readable book, the authors tell everything you always wanted to know about the diva.
About the Author
SUSAN J. LEONARDI is an associate professor of English at the University of Maryland at College Park. She is the author of Dangerous by Degrees: The Women of Somerville College (Rutgers University Press).
REBECCA A. POPE is an assistant professor of English at George Washington University.
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