Gender-inclusive pronouns have been around for centuries, says Surrey academic

The argument that gender-neutral and gender-nonconforming pronouns are a recent – and therefore suspect – invention is contradicted by centuries of literary history, according to a new book written by a University of Surrey researcher.

Published by Oxford University Press, Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature traces the use of the singular 'they' and other nonconformity pronouns through English-language fiction, poetry and memoir, and finds them written into the canon long before today's political lines were drawn. 

The book opens with a discovery that its author, Dr Lena Mattheis, made while rereading Virginia Woolf's Orlando - a text that dates back to 1928. In the middle of a familiar paragraph, the gender-transforming protagonist is described with the singular 'they' pronoun.  Diving into the rich history of singular ‘they’, Dr Mattheis’ research highlights that this pronoun is in fact older than singular ‘you’ and has been used in general language as well as in poetry since at least the 14th century.

This finding shapes the book's central argument – that gender-nonconformity (GNC) pronouns – singular 'they', neopronouns, mixed pronouns – are not grammatical novelties. They are a long-established feature of creative writing in English, with their own logic, and they have been doing significant literary work for generations. 

Gender-nonconformity pronouns are not just practical, they are beautiful. The book arrives at a moment of intense and, in some countries, legally enforced hostility towards inclusive language. In the United States, Florida legislation explicitly prohibits teachers from sharing or asking about pronouns. The French and Argentinian governments have moved to restrict inclusive language in public institutions.

In Bavaria, it has been made unlawful for state authorities, including schools, to use gender-inclusive language at all. Dr Mattheis argues that these measures rest on a deep-seated misunderstanding – that GNC language is new, unnatural and grammatically unsound – and that literary history offers a powerful counter-record. Queer Forms and Pronouns: Gender Nonconformity in Anglophone Literature is available from 20 March 2026, at all good bookstores. 

Dr Lena Mattheis, who is also Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Literature at the University of Surrey, said: "When I found the singular use of 'they' in Orlando, I had to reread the page three times. Nearly a century ago, Woolf, this widely canonised author, used a pronoun that, in the present day, is often at the centre of discussions about the ‘novelty’ of nonbinary and trans language and, since the 18th century, has sparked debates about the grammaticality of gender-neutral pronouns.

"More than that: Woolf uses singular they to describe an explicitly gender non-conforming (GNC) character. This is significant because singular they is, here, not a gender-neutral pronoun but makes a clear statement about Orlando’s gender. That changes the conversation." 

Among the books the study examines is Maia Kobabe's graphic memoir Gender Queer, which was the most frequently banned book in the United States in both 2021 and 2022. Kobabe originally wrote it as a personal letter to their own family, to explain their gender identity and their wish to use the Spivak pronouns 'e/em/eir'.

It is, Mattheis argues, precisely the accessibility of the graphic form – its ability to make a private pronoun journey legible to readers unfamiliar with trans and nonbinary experience – that made the book such a target. Panels were taken out of context and circulated on social media as evidence of harm. 

Dr Mattheis said: "Gender Queer became one of the most attacked books in recent memory because it did exactly what good literary writing does – it made an unfamiliar experience understandable. Kobabe wrote it for their parents. The fact that it reached so many more readers and resonated so widely is a testament to what literature can do that a style guide or a language policy simply cannot." 

The book also examines the personal dimension of pronoun use that is rarely acknowledged in public debate – the difficulty, for trans and nonbinary people themselves, of finding, adopting and consistently using new pronouns. Characters in the texts Mattheis analyses mispronoun themselves, try on pronouns only to find they do not quite fit, and navigate the gap between how they want to be described and how others see them.

This, Mattheis argues, is part of what makes GNC literature so valuable – it models not a world in which inclusive language is effortless, but one in which the effort is shared and the stakes are real.