Lesbian Literature Podcast
Between the Two Women 

For sexual minorities, the America of The Price of Salt era resembles China today in many ways: a significant number of people believe homosexuality can be “corrected” by medical intervention; homosexuality is only visible in lowbrow (online) literature; there is constant regulation and control over queer people; gay bars are frequently visited by “relevant authorities”; and Patricia Highsmith, who sold a million copies of her lesbian novel, couldn’t even admit she was the author.

 

The protagonist of The Price of Salt, Therese, has the sensitive soul of an artist. In everyday life, she often feels the emptiness and falseness of people’s conversations. In the grand department stores of New York, filled with consumerist illusions, poor and idealistic lesbian women dream of falling in love quickly — but the dream could end at any moment. In Cold War-era America, where “walls had ears,” she lived in constant fear of being discovered as a lesbian. She often felt exposed under the gaze of the entire world.

 

I believe today’s Chinese lesbians may not relate to the experiences of modern American lesbians, but they can certainly relate to what Patricia Highsmith and other lesbians went through in 1950s America.

 

Sixteen years after the publication of The Price of Salt, the Stonewall uprising erupted in the U.S. In the decade that followed, feminism and LGBTQ+ rights swept through American society, transforming it completely.

 

Due to the flaws in the existing Chinese translations, I created a close-reading podcast series on The Price of Salt based on the original English version. You’re welcome to search for “她们之间” (“Between the Two Women”) on Xiaoyuzhou, Podcast, Spotify, Douban, or NetEase Cloud Music to listen.