The Other Orpheus: A Poetics of Modern Homosexuality (Literary Criticism and Cultural Theory)

Since the troubadours, Western poetry has rarely spoken of love, desire and pleasure without invoking the spectre of death. Western discourse also marries representations of homoeroticism to catastrophe; an entire modern narrative sub genre, for instance, plots the untimely demise of a wayward homosexual protagonist, a narrative sometimes resuscitated in media discourse on AIDS. Merrill Cole argues that death, whether through complications resulting from a compromised immune system, or as the result of gaybashing, provides narrative satisfaction. This narrative not only informs the critical reception of Arthur Rimbaud and Hart Crane, but also the structure of T. S. Eliot's anti-narrative poem, The Waste Land . This book posits that male homoeroticism is a crucial component of any comprehensive understanding of modernism and the crisis of modern masculine identity. Cole explores how homoerotic affect - instantiated in the works of Rimbaud, Crane and Eliot - contributes to queer theory, and shows what poetry has to offer critical inquiry. This book aims to re-establish an interest in poetry by integrating question of prosody and aesthetics with political literary study. Cole used the methodological insights of psychoanalysis, deconstruction and Marxism to elaborate the social significance of poetic experiment, and reinvigorate the concepts of affect and imagination, while arguing against antiformalist approaches to literature. Book Cover......Page 1 Half-Title......Page 2 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 9 INTRODUCTION......Page 12 THE SUFFERING THING......Page 28 THE MERMAN......Page 32 TWINS......Page 37 DIFFERENT BODIES......Page 41 THE PETALED SELF......Page 46 ORPHEUS INSIDE-OUT......Page 50 MYTHS OF CHRONOLOGY......Page 55 THE ASSASSINATION OF TIME......Page 59 ELEGANCE, SCIENCE, VIOLENCE......Page 68 DISORIENTALISM......Page 74 COMMODERNISM......Page 80 MODERNITY AT ZERO......Page 85 THE LIMITS OF PERVERSION......Page 92 DEATH IN LONDON......Page 102 A CONTINUAL EXTINCTION......Page 104 THE FLOWER BOY......Page 109 THE INCONVENIENT DEAD......Page 122 THE WHITE PARAPHRASE......Page 127 THE LOVE THIEF......Page 131 INVITATION TO VOYAGE......Page 139 THE DROWNED DEAD DREAMING BACKWARDS......Page 145 TARGET PRACTICES......Page 149 AFTERWORD A Lovely End......Page 152 EPILOGUE......Page 155 NOTES TO INTRODUCTION......Page 157 NOTES TO CHAPTER ONE......Page 158 NOTES TO CHAPTER TWO......Page 162 NOTES TO CHAPTER THREE......Page 167 NOTES TO CHAPTER FOUR......Page 168 NOTES TO CHAPTER FIVE......Page 171 Bibliography......Page 177 Index......Page 185 Language & Literature Book Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 5 Copyright 6 Dedication 7 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 9 INTRODUCTION 12 CHAPTER ONE The Anatomy of Decision 28 THE SUFFERING THING 28 THE MERMAN 32 TWINS 37 DIFFERENT BODIES 41 THE PETALED SELF 46 CHAPTER TWO The Rack of Enchantments 50 ORPHEUS INSIDE-OUT 50 MYTHS OF CHRONOLOGY 55 THE ASSASSINATION OF TIME 59 ELEGANCE, SCIENCE, VIOLENCE 68 DISORIENTALISM 74 CHAPTER THREE Jouissance of the Commodities 80 COMMODERNISM 80 MODERNITY AT ZERO 85 THE LIMITS OF PERVERSION 92 CHAPTER FOUR Empire of the Closet 102 DEATH IN LONDON 102 A CONTINUAL EXTINCTION 104 THE FLOWER BOY 109 THE INCONVENIENT DEAD 122 CHAPTER FIVE Perversion’s Permanent Target 127 THE WHITE PARAPHRASE 127 THE LOVE THIEF 131 INVITATION TO VOYAGE 139 THE DROWNED DEAD DREAMING BACKWARDS 145 TARGET PRACTICES 149 AFTERWORD A Lovely End 152 EPILOGUE 155 Notes 157 NOTES TO INTRODUCTION 157 NOTES TO CHAPTER ONE 158 NOTES TO CHAPTER TWO 162 NOTES TO CHAPTER THREE 167 NOTES TO CHAPTER FOUR 168 NOTES TO CHAPTER FIVE 171 Bibliography 177 Index 185 The Intellectual Life Of The Feelings -- The Anatomy Of Decision : Modernist Bodies And The Meaning Of No -- The Rack Of Enchantments : New Love In Rimbaud's Illuminations -- Jouissance Of The Commodities : Rimbaud Against Erotic Reification -- Empire Of The Closet : Erotic Colonization In The Waste Land -- Perversion's Permanent Target : Hart Crane And The Uses Of Memory. Merrill Cole. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 161-171) And Index. First published in 2003. This volume aims to re-establish an interest in poetry by integrating questions of prosody and aesthetics with political literary inquiry. The broader theoretical goal is nothing less than a rehabilitation of the concepts of affect and imagination, though the study also argues against anti-formalist approaches to literature. Positing that male homoeroticism is a crucial component of any comprehensive understanding of modernism and the crisis of modern masculine identity, this text explores how homoerotic affect - instantiated in the works of Rimbaud, Crane and Eliot - contributes to queer theory, and shows what poetry has to offer critical inquiry.