Gottfried & Blicero

[Dave Monroe]

I'm not all too sure that a certain homosociality about fascist and/or Nazi
discourse isn't being played on as well, at times, esp. in re: Gottfried and
Blicero.  Will have to dig it out myself to elaborate, but see, for starters,
Klaus Theweleit's Male Fantasies, esp. Vol. II: Psychoanalyzing the White
Terrror.  But see also Stephen Paul Miller's The Seventies Now: Culture as
Surveillance, which mention GR in re: the nascent 70s Gay Rights movement as
well.  "Thomas Pynchon' Gravity's Rainbow foresees this kind of ideological
battle about the ultimate import of official sexuality: 'Homosexuality in high
places is just a crarnal afterthought now, and the real and only fucking is done
on paper.'  One is reminded of Nixon's publicly piuos stance as it is juxtaposed
with the absent presence of his sexual, profane and obscene language in the
Watergate tape transcripts" (p. 208) ...



Andy wrote:

> My problem with this is that there is negative reference after reference
> to male homosexuality
>
> Some of this stereotyping is just embarrassing and I wince when I read
> it (I'm gay btw). The language of the Weissman/Enzian (324) and
> Blicero/Gottried (721-2) passages is beautiful, but both Enzian and
> Gottried are seduced/abused by Weissman. Enzian is so overwhelmed by
> Weissman he compares him to Jesus Christ, Gottried and Weissman are
> "lovers whose genitals are consecrated to shit, to endings..."
>
> I can't remember references to homosexuality to redeem this either GR or
> for that matter V, COL49 or MD (the one's I've read). GR was written at
> the beginning of the gay rights movement in the States which was very
> visible and demanding. It must have been difficult, even scary, for most
> straight men to deal with. To write "the life-cry of that love
> [homosexuality in the trenches] has long since hissed away into no more
> than this bitchy and idle faggotry" at that time is probably not
> coincidental.
>
> This is, of course, not to damn P, it's just that in relation to
> homosexuality he/his writing is flawed, its not too big a deal.
> --
> Andy