Research student

Harriet Steele

Thesis Title: Reading community: Periodicals as archives for Australian lesbian public cultures, 1970-2000

Supervisors: Professor Joy Damousi (Principal Supervisor); Dr Mary Tomsic (Co-Supervisor)

Thesis abstract: My thesis examines the place of Australian lesbian magazines in community production and maintenance from the 1970s to the 1990s. This research is located within histories of identities and sexualities, informed by the discourses of the extensive lesbian periodical archives. I consider how the magazines have functioned as archives for their communities, preserving the debates around significant issues. My thesis examines how these discussions have operated over time and across periodicals and their interaction with feminism and gay rights frameworks.