Table Of Content

A History of Gay Literature Within the remains of an ancient tradition, the gay artist takes inspiration from the living flesh. (Paul Cadmus, The Tower, 1960) A History of Gay Literature T h e M a l e T r a d i t i o n Gregory Woods Yale University Press New Haven and London Copyright © 1998 by Gregory Woods All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers. Set in Garamond by MATS, Southend-on-Sea, Essex Printed in Hong Kong through World Print Ltd. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Woods, Gregory, 1953- A history of gay literature: the male tradition/Gregory Woods. Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 0-300-07201-5 . Homosexuality and literature. 2. Homosexuality in literature. 3. Gays’ writings—History and criticism. 4. Literature—History and criticism. I. Title. PN56.H57W66 1997 809'.89206642—dc21 97-28159 CIP A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library 1 3 5 7 9 1 0 8 6 4 2 Acknowledgements are due to the following for permission to quote copyright material: Curtis Brown for Theophile Gautier, Mademoiselle de Maupin, trans. Joanna Richardson (Copyright © 1981 Joanna Richardson) David Storey, Jonathan Cape Ltd. and A. M. Heath & Co. Ltd. for David Storey, Radclijfe (Copyright © 1963 David Storey) Contents Acknowledgements vii 1 The Making of the Gay Tradition 1 2 The Greek Classics 17 3 The Roman Classics 32 4 The Christian Middle Ages 41 5 The Orient 53 6 The European Renaissance 68 7 Christopher Marlowe 84 8 William Shakespeare 93 9 The Pastoral Elegists 108 10 From Libertinism to the Gothic 124 11 New Bearings in the Novel 136 12 The American Renaissance 151 13 Muscular Aestheticism 167 14 Spirit Versus Physique 181 15 Marcel Proust 192 16 Homosexual Men by Women 201 17 The Harlem Renaissance 209 18 The Tragic Sense of Life 217 19 Fantastic Realism 226 20 Towards the Popular 237 21 The Pink Triangle 247 22 The Post-War Starting-Point 257 23 European Poetry on the Left 267 24 Post-War Tragic Fiction 275 25 The Homosexual in Society 289 26 Black African Poetry 302 27 From Solitary Vice to Circle Jerk 313 28 Boys and Boyhood 321 29 The Age of Antibiotics 336 30 The Family and Its Alternatives 344 31 The AIDS Epidemic 359 32 Poetry and Paradox 375 Notes 390 Bibliography 421 Illustration Credits 446 Index 447 Acknowledgements In the writing of this book I have accumulated debts to helpful colleagues and friends, whom I must now thank. The Faculty of Humanities ar the Nottingham Trent University, where I teach Cultural Studies and English, gave me sabbatical leave at a crucial stage in the preparation of the first draft. Earlier versions of some chapters appeared, at length or in fragments, in various journals - European Gay Review, Journal of Homosexuality, perversions and PN Review — and in the following books: Gabriele Griffin’s Difference in View, Mark Lilly’s Lesbian and Gay Writing, Robert K. Martin’s The Continuing Presence of Walt Whitman, Emmanuel S. Nelson’s Gay and Lesbian Writers of Color and AIDS: The Literary Response, and Claude J. Summers’s Homosexuality in Renaissance and Enlightenment England and The Gay and Lesbian Literary Heritage. I could not have functioned without the patience and encouragement of all these editors. Susie Fischer and Michele Gregory gave me their hospitality in Jersey City, as did David Shenton in London. Sue Thomas fielded all my panic-stricken phone calls about a sinister new word-processor which knew more about my secret life than I did about its. And Tim Franks was consistently supportive throughout the period in which I was working on the book: much of its emotional strength is derived from him. He also drew my attention to a number of queer books which I would otherwise have overlooked. So did David Shenton and Geoff Whittaker. At Yale University Press, Robert Baldock not only commissioned this book, but also provided the friendship and professional support I needed to bring ir to fruition. I am more than grateful for his continuing confidence in my work. In 1951 the Fleet Street editor Leonard Crocombe dedicated his book Slow Ship to Hong Kong to his elder daughter. A History of Gay Literature is dedicated to the same unique individual: my mother, Charmion Woods.