Academic literature on the topic 'French Gay erotic literature'

This article demonstrates the ways in which The Renegado is relentlessly rhetorical. Early modern preoccupation with rhetorical theory and practice informs depictions of the material exchanges, erotic overtures and religious conversions as these attend Philip Massinger’s representations of the foreign. When considering the play’s representation of commerce, seduction and religion abroad, at stake is something closer to rhetorical considerations at home; that is, how to convert foreign ornamentation to advantage. Ultimately, the play’s resolutions hinge on transforming effeminizing, foreign ornamentation into ‘plain English’, a conversion that turns global spaces of inherent risk and insecurity into scenes of tractable, marital domesticity.

In this article the author examines aspects of recent Afrikaans erotic poetry, with particular reference to the work of Johann de Lange and Joan Hambidge. Deliberately disregarding psychological and sociological research as a basis for an analysis of gay and lesbian literature, the conclusion arrived at is that the erotic poetry of Hambidge exhibits, paradoxically, a male-oriented viewpoint regarding sexuality. This paradox is the result of language being man-made - a process which has the effect that women’s feelings and experience cannot be expressed without being 'contaminated', resulting in the undermining of the feminist ideal of the ‘woman-identified-woman’.

AbstractFin-de-SiècleA Hungarian version of the present paper was published as “Erósz és Agapé: Erotextus Edward Prime-Stevenson Imre: Egy emlékirat című regényének expozíciójában” (2019) in Literatura affiliated with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Supported by the ÚNKP-19-3 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology.” gay literature in English operated with a double narrative: one narrative offers a historical (and “innocent”) reading available to general readership; the other offers a personal (often illicit) reading available to the susceptible and initiated readers only. The double narrative, thus, allowed authors to give subtle visibility to same-sex desire in their works that would evade censorship. This paper argues that there is a similar double narrative in the exposition of Imre: A Memorandum by the American music critic and émigré writer Edward Prime-Stevenson. The double narrative of the novel, however, differs from that of prior gay literature. I argue that Prime-Stevenson thought it was a literary sin that prior gay literature offered a sensual, erotic, or even pornographic, subversive secondary reading to susceptible readers. In my reading, Prime-Stevenson consciously planted cues in the exposition of the novel, thus, created an erotext to trigger a similar subversive and illicit reading of his text. However, Prime-Stevenson used this technique to demonstrate that purely erotic literary representations denigrate same-sex desire; therefore, in what followed, he presented a different, agapeic view on same-sex desire. The paper substantiates that Prime-Stevenson’s intention was to break away from earlier narrative “traditions” of gay literature to offer a naturalised and legitimised representation and “script” of “homosexuality” per se. Prime-Stevenson did so in a crucial period of time, as the term “homosexual” just barely entered the English language and its pejorative connotations may not have been set in stone. The paper, as a result, casts a new complexion on sexuality as a literary phenomenon and the relevance of a complex narrative structure composed of “snares” and “false snares” in the exposition of Imre, which plays a crucial role in Prime-Stevenson authoring one of the very first openly homosexual novels in English, which has a happy ending.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: “Marginal” sexualities continue to be veiled by a cloud of silence and taboo in the Arab-Muslim societies. This study puts into conversation literary narratives by four writers of Maghrebian descent who have dared to break the intolerably irksome silence surrounding homosexuality. The novels of Rachid O., Abdellah Taïa, Eyet-Chékib Djaziri and Ilmann Bel are synchronous with the growing interest in the potential common points between literary production and queer sexualities in the Maghreb (and indeed other Arab/Muslim regions). Drawing on hermeneutic perspectives as well as diverse readings in gender and queer studies, this literary analysis deconstructs the problematic figure of the homosexual which is at once contentious as well as the locus of manifold discourses that are concerned with questioning the status quo whilst unveiling the unutterable. The literary construction and representation of “marginal” sexuality certainly plays a pivotal role in destabilising and challenging the simplistic conceptions of identity and value systems that underlie the designations of “correct and incorrect” sexual orientations and identities. Elaborating a comprehensive interpretative paradigm, this study attempts to fill the yawning gap in scholarship on the relationship between francophone literary production from the Maghreb and homosexuality. Adopting a tri-sequential approach, the study begins with an explanatory phase which contextualises queer sexuality as well as queer literary studies in the Maghreb and in France. An encounter phase follows offering a hermeneutic reading of the selected novels of the four writers, concentrating particularly on the definition, characterisation and general tonality of the literary works. The ultimate stage, the interpretive/theorisation phase, encompasses a re-reading of primary and secondary texts alongside each other so as to construct an original appraisal of the novels as well as develop a theoretically sound consideration of the construction of “marginal” sexualities in the selected novels. In addition to the above-enumerated tri-sequential approach, the argumentative flow of the study equally follows a three-pronged progression: production-text-reception. The first phase scrutinises the sociocultural, political and historical context in which the literary texts under consideration are created. The “text” phase analyses the novels in question in order to elaborate a theorisation of the construction and representation of “marginal” sexuality in the autofictional works of the aforementioned writers. The “reception” phase goes beyond the purely textual and delves into the possible impact of these literary texts on the everyday world of Arab-Muslim societies, in France as in the Maghreb.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: “Marginale” seksualiteite word steeds gehul in ʼn wolk van stilte en taboe in die Arabiese Moslemgemeenskappe. Hierdie studie ondersoek literêre narratiewe van vier skrywers van hierde streek wat dit gewaag het om die swaar en onuitstaanbaar hinderlike stilte rondom homoseksualiteit te verbreek. Die romans van Rachid O., Abdellah Taïa, Eyet-Chékib Djaziri en Ilmann Bel verskyn wanneer daar toenemende belangstelling ontstaan in uiteenlopende aspekte van en potensieel gemeenskaplike eienskappe tussen literêre produksie en sogenaamde “queer” seksualiteite in die Magreb (en ook ander Arabiese/Moslemstreke). Hierdie literêre analise, wat gebruik maak van hermeneutiese perspektiewe asook diverse gender- en queerstudies, dekonstrueer die problematiese figuur van die homoseksueel wat terselfdertyd omstrede én die lokus is van menigvuldige diskoerse wat gaan oor die bevraagtekening van die status quo terwyl die onuitspreeklike openbaar gemaak word. Die literêre konstruksie en uitbeelding van “marginale” seksualiteit speel beslis ʼn belangrike rol in die destabilisering en uitdaging van die simplistiese voorstellings van identiteit en waardesisteme wat onder die benaming van regte en verkeerde seksuele oriëntasies en identiteite lê. Deur ʼn omvattende interpretatiewe paradigma te ontwikkel, probeer hierdie studie om die gaping te vul wat in die wetenskap bestaan ten opsigte van die verhouding tussen Frankofoon literêre produksie uit die Magreb en homoseksualiteit. Die benadering bestaan uit drie opeenvolgende dele. Die studie begin met ʼn verklarende fase wat queer seksualiteit, asook queer literêre studies in die Magreb en Frankryk kontekstualiseer. ʼn Ontmoetingsfase volg waarin ʼn hermeneutiese lees van die gekose romans van die vier skrywers aangebied word, wat spesifiek op die definisie, karakterisering en algemene tonaliteit van die literêre werke fokus. Die finale fase, die interpretatiewe/teoretiseringsfase, sluit ʼn parallelle herlees van primêre en sekondêre tekste in om sodoende ʼn oorspronklike waardering van die romans te konstrueer en om ook ʼn teoreties onaanvegbare oorweging van die konstruksie van “marginale” seksualiteite in die gekose romans te ontwikkel. Verder volg die argument van die studie ook ʼn drieledige progressie: produksie-teks-ontvangs. Die eerste fase ondersoek die sosiokulturele, politiese en historiese konteks waarbinne die gekose tekste geskep is. Die “teksfase” analiseer die gekose romans om ʼn teoretisering van die konstruksie en representasie van “marginale” seksualiteit in die outofiksionele werke van die vier skrywers te ontwikkel. Die laaste fase gaan verder as die teks self en ondersoek die moontlike impak van hierdie literêre werke op die alledaagse wêreld van Arabiese Moslemgemeenskappe, in Frankryk sowel as die Magreb.
SOMMAIRE: La sexualité « marginale » demeure un sujet indicible et tabou dans les sociétés arabo-musulmanes, au Maghreb comme en France. La présente thèse essaie de mettre en conversation les récits de quatre romanciers d’origine maghrébine qui ont osé rompre l’intolérable silence { propos de l’homosexualité. Les romans de Rachid O., d’Abdellah Taïa, d’Eyet-Chékib Djaziri et d’Ilmann Bel sont synchrones avec l’intérêt croissant pour de divers aspects des sexualités « marginales » au Maghreb (et certes dans d’autres régions arabo-musulmanes). Nous servant des perspectives herméneutiques ainsi que de diverses théories des études de genre et des études queer, nous proposons dans cette étude une déconstruction du personnage de l’homosexuel qui est { la fois contentieux et également le locus de nombreux discours concernant la remise en cause du statu quo et le dévoilement de l’indicible. La construction et la représentation littéraire de la sexualité « marginale » joue certes un rôle central dans la déstabilisation des conceptions simplistes de la politique identitaire tout en mettant en cause les systèmes de valeurs qui sont à la base des désignations des identités et des orientations sexuelles. Élaborant un paradigme interprétatif compréhensif, cette étude s’efforcera de combler la lacune qui existe par rapport { l’analyse de l’intersection entre la production littéraire au Maghreb francophone et la sexualité « marginale ». Nous adoptons dans cette étude une approche tri-séquentielle et l’étape initiale, nommée la phase explicative, met en contexte la sexualité queer ainsi que les études littéraires traitant de ce sujet sur les deux rives de la Méditerranée. Cette phase préliminaire est suivie d’une phase de rencontre qui proposera une lecture herméneutique des romans, portant sur la définition, la caractérisation et la tonalité de ces oeuvres littéraires. Il s’agit dans l’étape ultime, la phase interprétative/de théorisation, d’une lecture parallèle des oeuvres primaires et secondaires afin d’établir une appréciation des romans de nos auteurs ainsi que de développer une considération valable sur le plan de la théorie de la construction et représentation de la sexualité « marginale » dans les romans choisis. En plus de l’approche ci-dessus expliquée, l’écoulement argumentatif de cette étude suit également une triple séquence : production-texte-réception. La phase de « production » examine le contexte socioculturel, politique et historique où se créent les textes littéraires sous considération. La phase de « texte » concentre sur l’analyse des oeuvres romanesques afin d’élaborer une problématisation de la sexualité « marginale ». La phase de « réception » dépasse les textes et analyse l’effet de ces textes sur le monde du quotidien des milieux arabo-musulmans, en France comme au Maghreb.

O objetivo desta tese é um estudo comparativo dos romances Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1748-1749), do inglês John Cleland, e Margot La Ravaudeuse (1750), do francês Jean-Charles Fougeret de Monbron. Os dois romances fazem parte do conjunto de narrativas eróticas libertinas que inundaram o emergente mercado livreiro europeu durante o Iluminismo e contam as memórias de duas jovens prostitutas respectivamente em Londres e Paris em meados do século. Partindo do pressuposto segundo o qual as duas narrativas se organizam num contínuo que oscila entre a sociabilidade e a individualidade, o objetivo desta análise comparativa é compreender como estes dois temas, fundamentais na experiência setecentista e no processo de formação do romance moderno, são formalizados nas memórias de Margot e Fanny Hill através de procedimentos estruturais recorrentes na literatura da libertinagem.
The aim of this dissertation is a comparative study of the novels Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1748-1749), by John Cleland, and Margot la Ravaudeuse (1750), by Jean-Charles Fougeret de Monbron. Both novels are part of the body of erotic libertine narratives that flooded the emerging European book market during the Enlightenment and tell the memoirs of two young prostitutes respectively in London and Paris during the mid-18th-century. Assuming that the two narratives are organized according to a continuum which oscillates between sociability and individuality, the objective of this comparative analysis is to understand how these fundamental themes in 18th-century life as well as in the rise of the modern novel are formalized in the memoirs of Margot and Fanny through reccurring structural procedures found in libertine literature.

Li Fung Kwan.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-98).
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
Abstract --- p.i
Acknowledgement --- p.iii
Chapter Chapter One: --- Introduction --- p.1
Chapter Chapter Two: --- On slash and De Certeau --- p.18
Chapter Chapter Three: --- The Pleasure of Escape --- p.30
Chapter Chapter Four: --- The Fan Community --- p.58
Chapter Chapter Five: --- Conclusion --- p.86
Reference --- p.92

This chapter examine how the French porn industry channels and manipulates tensions and fears related to the immigration debate and the place of Arabs in France, at times offering erotic “remedies.” This has culminated in a new pornotrope: Porno Ethnik, or pornography involving men and women of color, usually Arab or black. The chapter begins with a discussion of the output of French directors who were the first to feature Franco-Arab actors in gay male pornography: Jean-Daniel Cadinot (Cadinot), Jean-Noël René Clair (JNRC), and Stéphane Chibikh (Citébeur). It then considers heterosexual pornography featuring Franco-Arab women and asks whether or not this field of production is so different in its representations of minority sexuality that it precludes comparison with homosexual pornography. Tropes of sex tourism to North Africa, the hypersexualization of single immigrant men, the “eroticization of poverty” as regards both women and men, the veil as striptease, and the “homothug” type are all surveyed. Pornography, often seen as apolitical, does tackle issues of undigested colonial memory and contemporary race relations in a much more forthright (if politically incorrect) way than do the traditional journalistic means available.

This chapter surveys representations of the Arab male in contemporary French and Francophone literature. It argues that Arab men, especially those who show signs of ethnic affirmation, are often cast outside privileged circles of “gay” space just as they are eroticized. This can happen in narratives about sex tourism, about the mixing of classes and ethnicities in metropolitan France, or in those that concern the French cultural elite, wherein Arab men are posited as threats and nuisances to gay cultural, esthetic, and philosophical sensibilities. This is especially the case at moments of literary collaboration between Arab and white authors, or when Arab partners try to assert themselves in a literary or intellectual sense. There is of course a backlash against this intellectual belittling, both from a subsequent generation of white gay writers as well as from emergent Franco-Arab voices. This chapter pays special attention to how post-colonial resentment about past inter-ethnic belittling is portrayed via the historical motif of the “Arab boy,” transplanted from an exploited status in colonial settings to an un-assimilated status in contemporary France.