Shades of Gay: Representations of Male Same-Sex Desire in French Literature, Culture, and Ideology from 1789-1926
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ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: SHADES OF GAY: REPRESENTATIONS OF MALE SAME-SEX DESIRE IN FRENCH LITERATURE, CULTURE, AND IDEOLOGY FROM 1789-1926 Carl Joseph Gomolka Jr, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Dissertation directed by: Professor Valérie Orlando Department of French “Shades of Gay: Representations of Male Same-Sex Desire in French Literature, Culture, and Ideology from 1789-1926,” provides a critical overview of ways of representing homosexuality in France from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries. More specifically, I contend that the emergent nineteenth-century gay subculture influenced not only the way socio-political and medico-juridical sources represented and defined sexual and gender identity but that nineteenth and early twentieth century authors followed suit, contributing to the construction and deconstruction of social definitions of sexual and gender identity through literature. The first chapter of my thesis, titled “Preparing the Palette: Gay Male Literature from 1792-1910,” surveys the works of nineteenth century authors who created the framework for a homosexual epistemology that would structure representations of homosexuality during and after the nineteenth century. In the second chapter, entitled “Through the Looking-Glass: Representations of Fin- de-Siècle Homosexuality in the Works of Jean Lorrain,” I explore the influence of science on representations of homosexuality, especially with regard to criminal and degenerate images of the homosexual in the works of Jean Lorrain. My third chapter, entitled “Scandalous Sexualities: the Baron Jacques d’Adelswärd- Fersen and the World of Apologetic Impropriety,” addresses the relationship between scandal, journalism, and literature in the works of Jacques d’Adelswärd-Fersen. This chapter also questions whether Akadémos, the journal orchestrated by Fersen, can be considered France’s first gay journal. The fourth chapter, entitled, “For the Love of Boys: Ephemeral (Homo)sexuality and Platonic Politics in the Works of Achille Essebac” pioneers an analysis of the works of Achille Essebac, the first such study in English. The final chapter, titled “The Trouble with Normal: the Politics of the Closet in the Works of André Gide,” analyzes the dichotomies silence/disclosure and desire/restraint in the fin-de-siècle and early twentieth century works of André Gide, contradictory notions that are of particular interest in the context of sexual and gender identity study. Ultimately, I contend that the authors examined in my dissertation pull from social, ideological, cultural, as well as political representations of sexuality and gender to create an antagonistic and pugnacious literature that contributes to the contemporary definition of homosexuality. SHADES OF GAY: REPRESENTATIONS OF MALE SAME-SEX DESIRE IN FRENCH LITERATURE, CULTURE, AND IDEOLOGY FROM 1789-1926 by Carl Joseph Gomolka Jr Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 Advisory Committee: Professor Valérie K. Orlando, Chair Professor Andrea Marie Frisch Professor Caroline Eades Professor Sarah Benharrech Professor Marilee Lindemann ©Copyright by Carl Joseph Gomolka Jr. 2014 Acknowledgements There are many people who were an integral part of this project, indeed too many to mention. First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Valérie Orlando whose guidance and encouragement got me through many frustrating portions of this work. Your candid critiques and more than congenial conversations have helped me immensely. I would also like to thank the members of my committee, Drs. Frisch, Eades, Benharrech, and Lindemann for agreeing to participate in different aspects of this project and for the many classes and conversations that helped to enrich this work. A special thank you to the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures and specifically the Department of French for their financial support on several projects that led to this dissertation. Thank you also to the Graduate School at the University of Maryland and the Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship which allowed me to fully dedicate my time to this work. Finally, thank you to my family, friends, coworkers, and collegues who have all been supportive of my dream whether emotionally, professionally, or intellectually. Your constant encouragement has helped more than you can imagine. ii Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 Laying Down the Law: Code and Enforcement in Nineteenth-Century France ... 5 That’s So Gay…or is it? : Contemporary Ways of Defining the Homosexual in Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth-Century France ................................................. 9 On the Shoulders of Giants: Making Sense of Male Same-Sex Sexuality Through Greek and Roman Pederasty ................................................................ 12 The Silent Mediator: Bisexual Politics in Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth- Century French Ideology .................................................................................... 21 Chapter 1: Preparing the Palette: Gay Male Literature from 1792-1910 ....... 26 Please Select Your Gender: Representations of Male Homosexuality Through “Gender-Bending Rhetoric ................................................................................. 27 Dissecting the Palette: Scientific Representations of Homosexuality ................ 39 Ancient “Shades of Gay”: Representations of Homosexuality Through the Greek and Roman Tradition ................................................................................ 49 Pedagogic Perverts: Religious and Instructional Representations of Homosexuality .................................................................................................... 57 Camouflaging Gay: Military Representations of Homo(social)sexual Behavior ............................................................................................................................. 63 Chapter 2: Through the Looking-Glass: Representations of Fin-de-Siècle Homosexuality in the Works of Jean Lorrain .................................................... 79 iii Monsters in the Closet: A Decadent Critique of the Sexological Representations of Homosexuality in Lorrain’s Monsieur de Bougrelon, Monsieur de Phocas, and Le Vice errant ............................................................................................... 85 Ghosts in the Closet: Homosexuality as Spect(acle)er in Monsieur de Bougrelon ........................................................................................................ 88 Dandies in the Closet: Decadent (Homo)Sexuality as Panacea in Monsieur de Phocas ............................................................................................................. 96 Degenerates in the Closet: Expressing Homosexuality Through Hereditary Degeneration in Le Vice errant (1901) ......................................................... 107 Perverting Pederasty: (Re)presenting Greek and Roman Homosexuality Through a Decadent Aesthetic .......................................................................... 116 Chapter 3: Scandalous Sexualities: The Baron Jacques d’Adelswärd-Fersen and the World of Apologetic Impropriety ........................................................ 130 View From the “Other” Closet? : Poetic Passion and “Defensive” Bisexuality in the Works of Jacques d’Adelswärd-Fersen ....................................................... 136 Sex, Love, and Other Drugs: The 1903 Scandal That Rocked and Secured Fersen’s Career ................................................................................................. 151 Band of Brothers: Fersen, Akadémos, and France’s First Gay (?) Journal ....... 174 Chapter 4 : For the Love of Boys : Ephemeral (Homo)sexuality and Platonic Politics in the Works of Achille Essebac ........................................................... 184 iv Questionnable Friendships… ? : Platonic Love and Discourse in Essebacian Ideology ............................................................................................................ 191 Adonis’s Children: The Cult of Intermediary Youth and Ephemeral Homosexuality .................................................................................................. 203 Here’s Lookin’ at You Kid: The Gay Gaze and the Power of Mutual Recognition ....................................................................................................... 215 Somewhere Before the Rainbow: A Literary Call for Acceptance ................... 227 Chapter 5: The Trouble with Normal: The Politics of the Closet in the Works of André Gide ...................................................................................................... 235 The Secret’s “Out”: Discursive Uses of Secrecy and Disclosure to Describe the Closet and Homosexuality in the Works of André Gide .................................. 243 Formosum Pastor Corydon Ardebat Alexim: Transcendental Desires and Redeeming Restraint in Gidean Discourse ....................................................... 263 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 287 v Introduction At the end of a panel entitled “Internationalisation par la traduction: quels enjeux pour la littérature en français” (“Internationalization through