Myth of the Modern Homosexual: Queer History and the Search for Cultural Unity

By Rictor Norton

Book Overview

With careful reasoning supported by wide-ranging scholarship, this study exposes the fallacies of 'social constructionist' theories within lesbian and gay studies and makes a forceful case for the autonomy of queer identity and culture. It presents evidence that queers are part of a centuries-old history, possessing a unified historical and cultural identity. The volume reviews the fundamental historiographical issues about the nature of queer history, arguing that a new generation of queer historians will need to abandon authoritarian dogma founded upon politically-correct ideology rather than historical experience. Norton offers a clear exposition of the evidence for ancient, indigenous and pre-modern queer cultural continuity, revealing how knowledge of that history has been suppressed and censored and sets out the 'queer cultural essentialist' position on the key topics of queer history - role, identity, bisexuality, orientation, linguistics, social control, homophobia, subcultures, and kinship patterns.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1474286933
• ISBN13: 9781474286930
• Release Date: October 2016
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Devastating Critique of Queer Theory

I used to believe that it would take advanced biology to refute the absurd claims of social constructionists as they pertain to the origin of homosexuality...and then I came across this gem of a book. Norton demolishes the vast bulk of queer theory via historical references alone. The ridiculous claim of queer theory that "the homosexual" is a 19th century social construction is abundantly refuted by a huge amount of historical evidence concerning the existence of pre-19th century homosexual subcultures and the conceptualization of homosexuality or bisexuality as types of personalities rather than phenomena consisting of unusual sex roles or sex acts only. Norton describes the indigenous taxonomy of various homosexual types, including the active partner, in various cultures. Norton shows that queer theory is a political theory. The reason that queer theorists date the construction of "the homosexual" to the 19th century is that the 19th century is the era of bourgeois capitalism that can be subjected to Marxist analysis; an earlier date simply wouldn't work. Queer theorists even talk about the production and distribution of sexualities, as if sexualities are economic products! Would bourgeois society want to construct "the homosexual"? In 1741, 17-year-old Dutchman Jan Jansz was convicted of sodomy and spent the remaining 57 years of his life in solitary confinement. Dutch authorities then sometimes destroyed any records of the persecution of homosexuals, and did not use them as negative examples to enforce or define normality. Would these same authorities want to construct "the homosexual"? Much to the chagrin of social constructionists who associate the rise of capitalism with the control of sexuality, i.e., insist that the ruling class would want to discourage the pursuit of "fruitless pleasures" among the working class, Norton provides examples of capitalism fostering male bonds and homosexual relations. Queer theory makes much of the variability of homosexual behaviors in the historical record and across cultures, but this results from inadequate recording, the variability of suppression of various types of homosexual behaviors, and the variability of criminal prosecution. For instance, the sudden appearance of homosexual subcultures in several parts of Europe in the 1700s was a result of discovery, thanks to a better organized police force, not social construction resulting from the rise of capitalism. Norton argues that it is not a coincidence that the portrayal of male homosexual behavior by queer theorists in terms of a clear line of development from ancient pederastic relationships through early/modern patron/protégé relationships to modern egalitarian relationships resembles the Marxist dialectic leading from feudalism through capitalism to a classless society. The fact is that pederasty has far from disappeared in modern times and that egalitarian homosexual relationships have been recorded as far back as in ancient Eg

very recommendable book

This is a very interesting book to read not only for the essentialists but also even for the constructionists. However, it is regrettable for me that the author didn't mention on the Japanese traditional custom of male-love so much, since in Japan there're more documents and classical texts about "paiderastia" than the ancient Greek, and in premodern Japan male/male love was highly recommended and praised. I suggest three books "Male Color" by Gary P. Leupp , "The Love of the Samurai" by T. Watanabe & J. Iwata, and "Partings at Dawn" to read .