Calling All Golden Era Experts

[Zach R.]

I figured if anyone knows about the Golden Era it'd be some of you guys(I don't know how I got that idea).

I am doing a research paper on WH Auden and I need as much information as you can give me about homosexuality during the Golden Era(it is an assigned sub-topic in my paper), basically just general information regarding how it was viewed, etc(eg: in Britain it was illegal to be homosexual).

As interviewing an "expert" is a required part of the project, all I'll need from anyone that helps(besides their information) is their first/last name and city/country of residence(to prove that we actually DID interview someone).

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Zach --

There are a goodly number of books and journal articles on gay life in the first half of the 20th century, during the time that Auden flourished and in the Golden Era. And, of course, gay life was quite different in various European countries during that time.

There is a gay history site: infopt.demon.co.uk/bibearly.htm

There are biographies on Auden, check out website:

kirjasto.sci.fi/whauden.htm

Auden lived in Berlin I believe, at the time the European homophile movement was blossoming. This movement was destroyed and stopped in its tracks by Hitler. Gay men were actually sent to concentration camps and very few survived.

If you need to interview someone from that time, the best group to contact is a gay/lesbian group called SAGE (Senior Action in a Gay Environment), see

www.sageusa.org

Folks from that era are getting scare, I am not sure just how far back you need to interview someone; you can still find gay people from the 40's and the 50's, probably. Before that time, I don't know. I am not sure if you want to interview an American or someone from England. I assume you would want to interview a gay man. Life was somewhat different for lesbians than for gay men.

Also, a lesbian and gay group or center near you may be able to respond, but I would start with SAGE for finding someone for your interview.

karol

 

[Zach R.]

Its not really a strict interview per se, its more of just finding out something from someone that knows something about the general social and cultural aspects of the time period.

I was fortunate to be assigned someone very easy to just find out what to interview someone about(for instance, someone who was assigned Sylvia Plath simply went to a psychologist and asked a few general questions)

Actually, for the kind of thing I'm looking for to incorporate into my paper, I really don't need anything much more specific than what you just told me(like I said, its not a strict interview).

 

[magneto]

Hi Zach, Are you familiar with Christopher Isherwood? He was a friend of Auden's, and Isherwood's autobiog Christopher and His Kind, 1929-1939 talks at length about the social/political aspects of being homosexual during that time period. Might be worth a look-see.

 

[Zach R.]

Thanks, I'll have to check that out.

 

[shindeco]

books to check

This is probably too late but I'll post anyway for future reference. If you're looking for general books about gay life, I'd recommend these:

Chauncey, George (1994) "Gay New York", New York: BasicBooks
Excellent survey of gay urban life in New York (and a bit on other American cities) from 1890-1940

Friedman, Mack (2003) "Strapped for Cash", Los Angeles: Alyson Books
History of male prostitution in the States from early settlement to ~2000.
Lots of interesting sidlines on gay life in general.

Waugh, Thomas (1996) "Hard to Imagine" New York: Columbia University Press
Bluntly put, a history of gay porn from mid nineteenth century to mid 1960s. Again, lots of interesting sidelines (and examples, so be warned!!!)

 

[nightandthecity]

Funnily enough I have just read a review of this book. It sounds like a must for your project:

Queer London: Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis, 1918-1957

You'll find the review on
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/reviews/article311473.ece

One of its themes is the extent to which gay sex was also practiced by basically heterosexual men in the days before liberalization - as it still is in many parts of the world.

You might also want to check the Mass Observation British sex survey of 1949, the UKs first serious study of sexual behaviour. it basically confirms Houlbrooks thesis - the MO team found that 1 in 5 UK men had had homosexual experience - that compares to about 1 in 100 today.

It also found that 1 in 4 men visited prostitutes - I don't have modern figures but I am pretty confident it won't be anything remotely as high. It also found that about 20% of married women had had an extra-marital affair, I believe the modern figure is around 13%. So much for the Golden Age myth so beloved of Christian conservatives. If morality is about things like honesty and treating others with respect it seems that feminism, gay rights and the sexual revolution have actually made us more moral.

 

[Naama]

That may come a little late too, but there is a German silent movie from the 20's which is actually aboute the paragraph which forbidded homosexuality. But I forgot the name of it, it's called "Paragraph ..." and then the number of the paragraph. I'll try to find out the actual titel.

Naama

 

[resortes805]

You might also want to look into gays (and lesbians) in Hollywood during the Golden Age. Studios used to arrange dates with faux girlfriends (and supposedly marriages too!) for gay leading men to keep them in the closet.

 

[scotrace]

How'd this project go, Zach?