A history of homosexuality in Europe : Berlin, London, Paris, 1919-1939, volume I & II

The period between the two world wars was crucial in the history of homosexuality in Europe. It was then that homosexuality first came out into the light of day. Charting the early days of the homosexual and lesbian scene, Florence Tamagne traces the different trends in Germany, England and France in the period leading up to the cataclysm of World War II and provides important background to any understanding of the later events. In this 2-volume scholarly treatise the author weaves together cultural references from literature, songs and theater, news stories and private correspondence, police and government documents to give a rounded picture of the evolving scene.Tolerance for homosexuality followed different trends in Germany, England and France in the period leading up to the war. Tamagne's work outlines the long and arduous journey from the shadows toward acceptability as the homosexual and lesbian community finds a new legitimacy at various levels of society. Volume I introduces the first glimmerings of that new openness and explores the scenes in three very different cities. Berlin became the capital of the new culture and the center of a political movement seeking rights and protections for what we now call gays and lesbians. In England, the struggle was brisk to undermine the structures and strictures of Victorianism; whereas in France (which was more tolerant, overall), homosexuality remained more subtle and nonmilitant.Volume I introduces the first glimmerings of tolerance for homosexuality around the turn of the last century, quickly squelched by the trial of Oscar Wilde which sent a chill throughout the cosmopolitan centers of the world. Just crawling out from under the Victorian blanket, Europe was devastated by a gruesome war that consumed the flower of its youth. Then, in the aftermath of World War I, a variety of factors came together to forge a climate that was more permissive and open. Tamagne dissects the strands of euphoria, rebellion, exploration, nostalgia and yearning, and the bonds forged at school and on the battlefront. The Roaring Twenties are sometimes seen, in retrospect, as having been a golden age for homosexuals and lesbians; and the literary output of the era shows why.However, the social and political backlash soon became apparent, first of all in Germany. (Volume 2, ISBN 0-87586-278-0, focuses on the decline, and the counter-trend, from 1933 to 1939.) Repression arrested the evolution of the new mores, and it was not until the 1960s that the wave of liberation could once again sweep the continent. Table of Contents......Page 9 Foreword......Page 13 The History of Homosexuality: a New and Controversial History......Page 15 Research in Homosexuality: Methodological Problems......Page 20 The homosexual - between dandy and militant......Page 27 A Myth is Born: Those Flamboyant Days......Page 29 One Scandal after Another......Page 30 The homosexual, a traitor to the fatherland......Page 38 The front as a school in homosexuality......Page 40 The war casts open the blinds......Page 45 The Homosexual Scene: Subversive Language......Page 49 Homosexual Talk: from “Slang” to “Camp”......Page 50 Dandies and Flappers: Homosexuals Have Style......Page 54 Magical Cities, Mythical Cities: The Geography of Where to Meet......Page 61 Berlin, A Homosexual Capital......Page 62 The male scene......Page 63 The female scene......Page 65 Triumph of the amateurs......Page 70 London, or the Glamour of Uniforms......Page 73 Not much of scene at all......Page 74 Pick-ups and prostitutes......Page 76 Dance time......Page 80 Night life......Page 84 Liberation on the Move: The Golden Age of Homosexual Movements......Page 93 Magnus Hirschfeld, Prefiguring the Militant Identity......Page 94 The Beginnings of the WhK (1897-1914)......Page 95 The apogee and decline of the WhK (1919-1933)......Page 98 Assessing Magnus Hirschfeld’s record......Page 104 Adolf Brand and “Der Eigene,” An Elite and Aesthetic Homosexuality......Page 107 Homosexual Magazines and Popular Organizations......Page 112 “Der Deutsche Freundschaftsverband”......Page 114 “Der Bund für Menschenrecht”......Page 115 Lesbians, at the fringes of the homosexual movement......Page 118 The World League for Sexual Reform: A Homosexual Internationale?......Page 124 A Lackluster Performance on the Part of English Activists......Page 129 Edward Carpenter, socialist utopian and homosexual......Page 130 “British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology” (BSSP): A timid reformism......Page 133 Marcel Proust, Witness of Days Long Past......Page 135 André Gide, A Militant Homosexual?......Page 142 “Inversion,” An Isolated Attempt at a Homosexual Review......Page 152 An Inversion of Values: The Cult of Homosexuality......Page 157 Seduced in the Public Schools......Page 158 The Public Schools, Fostering the Cult of Homosexuality......Page 159 Ambiguities in the System......Page 164 Paradise Lost: The English Model......Page 170 Cambridge and the “Apostles”......Page 185 Bloomsbury......Page 188 The Second Homosexual Generation: The Apogee......Page 191 The Succeeding Generation......Page 192 Oxford......Page 195 Escape to Germany......Page 205 Homosexuals become commonplace during the inter-war period......Page 217 Awakening: Working to Construct a Homosexual Identity......Page 219 The Medical Model: An Identity Imposed from Outside......Page 221 The Doctors Intrude......Page 222 Medicine at the “Service” of Homosexuals......Page 226 Psychoanalytical Shock......Page 230 Being Homosexual: Proclaiming an Identity......Page 238 An Early Revelation......Page 239 Homosexual Discomfort......Page 240 Asserting Oneself......Page 244 A Generational Example: Thomas and Klaus Mann......Page 247 Defining Oneself as a Lesbian - An Identity under Construction......Page 253 Radclyffe Hall......Page 254 Natalie Barney and Colette......Page 258 Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf......Page 262 Ignorance......Page 265 Assuming an identity......Page 268 Self rejection......Page 274 The Birth of a Homosexual Community?......Page 276 Sharing a Common Culture......Page 277 Solidarity and Exclusion......Page 288 Index......Page 297 Table of Contents 9 Foreword 13 Introduction 15 The History of Homosexuality: a New and Controversial History 15 Research in Homosexuality: Methodological Problems 20 PART ONE 27 A Brief Apogee: The 1920s, A First Homosexual Liberation 27 The homosexual - between dandy and militant 27 Chapter One 29 A Myth is Born: Those Flamboyant Days 29 Looking Back: 1869-1919 30 One Scandal after Another 30 The Shock of the First World War 38 The homosexual, a traitor to the fatherland 38 The front as a school in homosexuality 40 The war casts open the blinds 45 The Homosexual Scene: Subversive Language 49 Homosexual Talk: from “Slang” to “Camp” 50 Dandies and Flappers: Homosexuals Have Style 54 Magical Cities, Mythical Cities: The Geography of Where to Meet 61 Berlin, A Homosexual Capital 62 The male scene 63 The female scene 65 Triumph of the amateurs 70 London, or the Glamour of Uniforms 73 Not much of scene at all 74 Pick-ups and prostitutes 76 Paris, Montmartre, and Getting Caught 80 Dance time 80 Night life 84 Chapter Two 93 Liberation on the Move: The Golden Age of Homosexual Movements 93 The German Model: Communitarianism and Militancy 94 Magnus Hirschfeld, Prefiguring the Militant Identity 94 The Beginnings of the WhK (1897-1914) 95 The apogee and decline of the WhK (1919-1933) 98 Assessing Magnus Hirschfeld’s record 104 Adolf Brand and “Der Eigene,” An Elite and Aesthetic Homosexuality 107 Homosexual Magazines and Popular Organizations 112 “Der Deutsche Freundschaftsverband” 114 “Der Bund für Menschenrecht” 115 Lesbians, at the fringes of the homosexual movement 118 The German Model as an Influence on Homosexual Movements 124 The World League for Sexual Reform: A Homosexual Internationale? 124 A Lackluster Performance on the Part of English Activists 129 Edward Carpenter, socialist utopian and homosexual 130 “British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology” (BSSP): A timid reformism 133 The French Way: Individualism Comes Up Short 135 Marcel Proust, Witness of Days Long Past 135 André Gide, A Militant Homosexual? 142 “Inversion,” An Isolated Attempt at a Homosexual Review 152 Chapter Three 157 An Inversion of Values: The Cult of Homosexuality 157 Seduced in the Public Schools 158 The Public Schools, Fostering the Cult of Homosexuality 159 Ambiguities in the System 164 Paradise Lost: The English Model 170 Two Generations of Homosexual Intellectuals 185 The First Homosexual Generation: Precursors 185 Cambridge and the “Apostles” 185 Bloomsbury 188 The Second Homosexual Generation: The Apogee 191 The Succeeding Generation 192 Oxford 195 Escape to Germany 205 PART TWO 217 Unacknowledged Fears and Desires: 217 Ambiguous Speech and Stereotyped Images 217 Homosexuals become commonplace during the inter-war period 217 Chapter Four 219 Awakening: Working to Construct a Homosexual Identity 219 The Medical Model: An Identity Imposed from Outside 221 The Doctors Intrude 222 Medicine at the “Service” of Homosexuals 226 Psychoanalytical Shock 230 Being Homosexual: Proclaiming an Identity 238 An Early Revelation 239 Homosexual Discomfort 240 Asserting Oneself 244 A Generational Example: Thomas and Klaus Mann 247 Defining Oneself as a Lesbian - An Identity under Construction 253 The Dominant Model and Alternatives 254 Radclyffe Hall 254 Natalie Barney and Colette 258 Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf 262 Individual Answers 265 Ignorance 265 Assuming an identity 268 Self rejection 274 The Birth of a Homosexual Community? 276 Sharing a Common Culture 277 Solidarity and Exclusion 288 Index 297 Just crawling out from under the Victorian blanket, Europe was devastated by a gruesome war that consumed the flower of its youth. Tamagnedissects the strands of euphoria, rebellion, exploration, nostalgia and yearning, and the bonds forged at school and on the battlefront, in a scholarly treatise charting the early days of the homosexual and lesbian scene. The period between the two world wars was crucial in the history of homosexuality in Europe. It was then that homosexuality first came out into the light of day. Berlin became the capital of the new culture, and the center of a political movement seeking rights and protections for what we now call gaysand lesbians. In England, the confruntation was brisk to undermine the structures and strictures of Victorianism; whereas in France (which was moretolerant, over all), homosexuality remained more subtle and nonmilitant Just crawling out from under the Victorian blanket, Europe was devastated by a gruesome war that consumed the flower of its youth. Tamagne examines the currents of nostalgia and yearning, euphoria, rebellion, and exploration in the post-war era, and the b.