The Gay & Lesbian Review

One Hundred and Eighth: Campiana FROM THE EDITOR

C AMP is a vague-ish term whose meaning has been de- bated over the years even as its cultural manifestations have shifted periodically. The first mainstream treatment of the phenomenon was Susan Sontag’s classic 1964 essay, “Notes on Camp,” which clearly linked it to the (then) under- ground homosexual subculture and recognized camp as a pri- vate language with which this minority could communicate. It was a matter of hiding in plain sight in that expressions of camp were typically available to a mainstream audience but contained winking references or styles that only certain viewers or readers were likely to pick up on. Sontag’s essay is revisited and updated here by Bruce LaBruce, who sees the phenom as having fractured by now into several strains, all united by a commitment to style over sub- stance, performances unconstrained by reality or good taste. What’s more, he regards camp as the currently dominant style in popular culture, however diluted, having moved in on the ironic sensibility of the 1990s and early 2000s. There arose in the same year as Sontag’s essay a comic strip called Harry Chess: That Man from A.U.N.T.I.E ., surely an in- stance of camp by any definition. In this case, the pitch was to an expressly gay readership (of Drum magazine), but it did something quite interesting by presenting a parody of the TV se- ries The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and other “buddy” shows, im- plying that there was something a little “campy,” if you will, MASSACHUSETTS NEW FROM and sexy in their thinking.”—Scott Herring e exciting, informative, compr “These essays in toto ar ehensive,

about the relationship between the two male stars. Back to the kind of camp that winks at its gay audience: an- other example would be the vampire as a literary and filmic per- sonage. Richard S. Primuth argues here that the treatment of vampires—whether as arch-villains (Dracula), as disguised trai- tors, or as misunderstood rogues—tracks closely with the image of homosexuals over more than a century, serving as a metaphor for GLBT people and other outsiders. The phenomenon of female cross-dressing proves a curious case, as it is male-to-female cross-dressing that’s undoubtedly the classic expression of camp. Clare Wall points out that “drag kings” have been around since the ancient world, both as liter- ary figures and in real life. While straight society has typically had no trouble recognizing female cross-dressers for what they are—Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for it—what they fail to see is that it typically signifies a lesbian sexual orientation. I would also include Elton John under the camp rubric, not so much for his music as for his onstage persona. Be it remem- bered that from the start of his career in the 1960s until 1988, Elton was not officially out as gay. Hippiedom provided a cover for those crazy outfits and giant glasses, but surely these styles were signals of another kind directed at those in the know. I have avoided using the phrase “camping it up” thus far, but Elton’s antics in the 70s and 80s would certainly qualify. R ICHARD S CHNEIDER J R .

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