Queering the female writer in screen biofictions: Daphne (2007) and Shirley (2020)

The article focuses on two examples of female lives re-imagined as queer in screen biofiction: Daphne (Beavan, 2007) about Daphne de Maurier, and Shirley (Decker, 2020) about Shirley Jackson. These films are analysed as literary biofictions, that is, fictional revisions of biographies in which the protagonists share names and biographemes with well-known writers. The factuality of these biographemes is less significant in biofiction than the imaginary components that aim to reveal secrets, revise myths, or depict a relatable version of the characters and their lives. Thus, biofictions often offer a cultural commentary that is more relevant to the contemporary context than the historical one. The article focuses, first, on biographemes used as authenticating strategies and, then, examines the implications of the ways in which queer femininity is depicted in both mentioned screen biofictions, and how these renditions position themselves in connection to the stereotype of the age gap dynamics in lesbians’ relationships.