The Seduction of the Mediterranean: Writing, Art and Homosexual Fantasy by Robert Aldrich (PDF)

Description

Through an explanation of forty figures in European culture, ^The Seduction of the Mediterranean> argues that the Mediterranean, classical and contemporary, was the central theme in homoerotic writing and art from the 1750s to the 1950s. Episodes of exile, murder, drug-taking, wild homosexual orgies and court cases are woven into an original study of a significant theme in European culture. The myth of a homoerotic Mediterranean made a major contribution to general attitudes towards Antiquity, the Renaissance and modern Italy and Greece.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “In this original and well-researched study, Aldrich shows that a recurring motif in the literature and art of homosexuals from the 1750s to the 1950s was that of the Mediterranean. . . . Aldrich breaks new ground by revealing a unifying thread in homosexual culture long before the moder term subculture’ was invented.”-“Library Journal From the Back Cover The Mediterranean was the central theme in homoerotic writing and art from the 1750s to the 1950s. Writers and artists delved into classical mythology and history for figures – such as Ganymede and Achilles – through which they could portray a sexuality considered by society as a sin, an illness and a crime. Many journeyed to the south of Europe, particularly Italy, to admire the ruins of Antiquity and the paintings of the Renaissance, escape the social censure of their home countries and find sexual partners. The lives and works of forty writers are examined, from the art historian Winckelmann in the 1700s, through Romantic poets such as Byron and Platen, to Wilde, Isherwood and Forster. Attention is given to the works of such painters as Girodet and von Marees and the photographs of von Gloeden and List. Robert Aldrich sets the phenomenon of homosexual interest in the Mediterranean in its social and historical context. He suggests that different myths replaced that of the homoerotic Mediterranean by the 1960s, as gay liberation diminished the need for the legitimation of homosexuality which the classics provided, and law reform lessened the need for exile. This book brings together for the first time a study of seminal figures in homosexual culture and explains the link – fascination with the Mediterranean – which bound them together.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Great reading especially if you are gay and planning a trip/cruise to the Mediterranean.This book was recommended to me and I enjoyed it, great gay historical insightsand information that I never knew before.

⭐Meets all expectations.

⭐CRAZY PRICING ALL AROUND…BOTH THE KINDLE AND PHYSICAL COPIES ARE REALLY SKY HIGH IN COST.and I didn’t know Kindle “rented” books either…still, dont want to pay $10 to rent it…will check my library I guess.

⭐This is an interesting and readable book, but mainly concentrated in the yearning & admiration of Northern Europeans for Italia et Graecia. I was expected from the title a more comprehensive survey-book on the mediterranean male/male love relationships .

⭐The book came in excellent tight wrapping and even had a plastic wrapping around the dust jacket…

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