Homintern : how gay culture liberated the modern world / Gregory Woods.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Woods, Gregory, 1953- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gay and lesbian studies.

Social history--20th century.

Social history.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (455 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2016]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"In a hugely ambitious study which crosses continents, languages, and almost a century, Gregory Woods identifies the ways in which homosexuality has helped shape Western culture. Extending from the trials of Oscar Wilde to the gay liberation era, this book examines a period in which increased visibility made acceptance of homosexuality one of the measures of modernity. Woods shines a revealing light on the diverse, informal networks of gay people in the arts and other creative fields. Uneasily called "the Homintern" (an echo of Lenin's "Comintern") by those suspicious of an international homosexual conspiracy, such networks connected gay writers, actors, artists, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, politicians, and spies. While providing some defense against dominant heterosexual exclusion, the grouping brought solidarity, celebrated talent, and, in doing so, invigorated the majority culture. Woods introduces an enormous cast of gifted and extraordinary characters, most of them operating with surprising openness; but also explores such issues as artistic influence, the coping strategies of minorities, the hypocrisies of conservatism, and the effects of positive and negative discrimination. Traveling from Harlem in the 1910s to 1920s Paris, 1930s Berlin, 1950s New York and beyond, this sharply observed, warm-spirited book presents a surpassing portrait of twentieth-century gay culture and the men and women who both redefined themselves and changed history"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. The Homintern Conspiracy

2. Scandal and After

3. The Northern Exotic

4. France and its Visitors

5. Germany and its Visitors

6. Frivolity to Seriousness

7. Berlin Propagandised

8. The Southern Exotic

9. The New World

10. The New Politics

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-300-21956-3

OCLC:

1198930560