Home >> The Modern Language Review, Volume 103, Number 3

But is it Gay? Kissing, Friendship, and `Pre-Homosexual' Discourses in Eighteenth-Century Germany

Author: Wilson, W. Daniel

Source: The Modern Language Review, Volume 103, Number 3, 1 July 2008 , pp. 767-783(17)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

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Abstract:

Many queer studies scholars have been too ready to read past cultures through the lens of homosexuality in its modern configurations. Taking as an example the correspondence between Gleim and Jacobi published in 1768, this article uses kissing between men as a touchstone for this issue. It delineates an early modern culture of friendly kissing between men that shows no signs of homoeroticism, arguing that the depiction of the Gleim-Jacobi correspondence as gay derives from masculinist attacks by the Sturm und Drang and from Anna Louisa Karsch's ambiguous statements. It closes by seeking criteria for detecting homoeroticism in such texts.

Keywords: queer studies; homosexuality; Gleim; Jacobi; kissing; Sturm und Drang; Anna Louisa Karsch

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Royal Holloway, University of London

Publication date: 2008-07-01

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  • The Modern Language Review, the flagship journal of the Association, is available to all individual members as part of their subscription. MLR is one of the oldest journals in its field, maintaining an unbroken publication record since its foundation in 1905, and publishing more than 3,000 articles and 20,000 book reviews.

    Each volume consists of four issues, published in January, April, July and October of each year. Its 1000+ annual pages are divided roughly equally between articles, predominantly on medieval and modern literature in the languages of Europe, and over 500 reviews of books in these areas. All contributions are in English, and each section is edited by a noted scholar in the field, under the overall supervision of the General Editor. Articles are chosen not only for their scholarly worth and originality but also, as far as possible, for their potential interest to a wider readership in other disciplines.
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