My Father and I: The Marais and the Queerness of Community

277 Pages·2009·4.168 MB·English

by  David Caron

My Father and I

My Father and I
The Marais and the
Queerness of Community
David Caron
Cornell University Press
ithaca and london
Copyright © 2009 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2009 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Caron, David (David Henri)
My father and I : the Marais and the queerness of community / David Caron.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8014-4773-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Marais (Paris, France)—History. 2. Gay community—France—Paris—History.
3. Jewish neighborhoods—France—Paris—History. 4. Homosexuality—France—Paris—
History. 5. Jews—France—Paris—History. 6. Gottlieb, Joseph, 1919–2004.
7. Caron, David (David Henri)—Family. I. Title.
DC752.M37C37 2009
306.76'6092244361—dc22
2008043686
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible sup-
pliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of
its books. Such materials include v egetable- based, low- VOC inks and
acid- free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine- free, or partly composed
of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at
www .cornellpress .cornell. edu .
Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In memory of Joseph Gottlieb, my father
And for all my other friends

Contents
IOU ix
Prologue. My Father and I 1
Part I THE MARAIS
1 The Old Neighborhood 25
2 A Queer Ghetto 75
Part II THE QUEERNESS OF COMMUNITY
3 Things Past 113
4 Disaster, Failure, and Alienation 150
5 The Queerness of Group Friendship 183
Epilogue. My Father and I 222
Notes 243
Bibliography 251
Index 261
[ vii ]

IOU
Every book is a community. This one is no exception. I have written it nei-
ther for myself nor by myself. It bears the imprint of many friendships and
many sources of support, moral and otherwise. Throughout this long pro -
cess, I have relied on the kindness of strangers and on the tough and tender
demands of those close to me.
My father’s dream was to own a bookstore. He never did, but with this
book, which is his, he will now be in bookstores. I only wish he had been
around to see what he inspired. My writing has allowed me to grow closer
to him and to make up for so many years of misunderstanding. I miss him
every day.
I am particularly indebted to my friends Ross Chambers and Cyril Royer,
who have been precious interlocutors from day one. Thinking with them
was a challenge and a joy, and they made this book better. Along with Ross
and Cyril, Alejandro Herrero- Olaizola and Juli Highfill have given me far
more than I could possibly acknowledge here. Jarrod Hayes, Cristina
Moreiras- Menor, Martine Delvaux, and Liu Haiyong also deserve special
recognition for their friendship, advice, and encouragements. I also thank
Lawrence D. Kritzman and Michael Sibalis, who read the manuscript for
Cornell University Press and contributed much to its improvement. Peter J.
Potter was an ideal editor, wonderfully supportive, engaged, and generous.
Thank you all so much.
Dilettantism is a lovely ideal but it is also a luxury. A luxury I don’t have.
Without the support of institutional structures, I could never do what I love
to do—read, write and, think about s tuff—and do it for a living. For that I
am truly grateful. First of all, I want to acknowledge the various units at the
University of Michigan that have made this book possible thanks to their
[ ix ]
[ x ] IOU
generous support: the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures;
the College of Literature, Science and the Arts; the Office of the Vice
Provost for Research; and the Rackham School of Graduate Studies. I was
also very fortunate to have received a fellowship from the National Endow-
ment for the Humanities, which allowed me to conduct crucial research in
Paris for a year. Another fellowship, at the University of Michigan’s Institute
for the Humanities, helped me greatly in advancing my thinking and writ-
ing. Many thanks to all involved in one way or another: Martine Antle,
Marie Lathers, David Halperin, Peggy McCracken, Marie- Hélène Huet,
David Carroll, Didier Eribon, and Daniel Herwitz.
And there are all the friends in France and elsewhere, the old ones, the
new ones, and those whose names I never even knew. I’ll sing them all and
we’ll stay all night!This is ultimately a book on friendship, and their love and
hospitality have proved my point about community. When bad things
happened—and they happened often during the writing of this book—they
were there to help. In addition to those already mentioned, and in no par-
ticu lar order: Annabelle, Alain, Denis, Laurent, Thierry, Anna, Gowen,
Nico, Guillaume, Krysztof, Gilles, Bruno, Babar, Michael, Johnny Boy, Tet-
suya, Mindy, Patty, Ed, Fred, Jean- Louis, Ronan, Amar, Sylvie, Xavier, Lil-
ian, René- Pierre, Bruno, Kali, Mika, Sophie, Kane, Iannis, Laetitia, Lijun,
Marie, Caroline, Didier, and Hervé who didn’t make it. And my family, of
course.
An earlier version of the prologue, “My Father and I,” was published in
GLQ in 2005 (vol. 11, 265–282). Many thanks to the publisher, Duke
University Press, for permission to reprint it h ere. Small sections of chapters
3 and 5 have appeared in Entre Hommes: French and Francophone Masculinities
in Culture and Theory in 2008, edited by Todd Reeser and Lewis Seifert
(251–266) and in Gay Shame, also in 2008, edited by David Halperin and
Valerie Traub. Many thanks to the editors and the University of Delaware
Press and the University of Chicago Press respectively for permission to
reprint parts of these essays here.
David Caron
Ann Arbor, Michigan