From Maximin to Stonewall
Sexuality and the Afterlives of the George Circle
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9854688 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Adrian Daub (Stanford University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 87 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 19-34 |
| Publication date | 2012-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Germanic Review Literature Culture Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-8890 • E-ISSN: 1930-6962 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00168890.2012.654436 |
| OpenAlex | W2117704122 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
The “circle” around the poet Stefan George had as its foundation myth the tragic story of Maximilian Kronberger, immortalized as Maximin. This foundation myth and the homoerotic conception of community it authorized fascinated and repulsed many of Germany's most famous writers and thinkers. This article charts a much more covert reception: How did gay writers, thinkers, and activists grapple with George as a gay poet and with George as a leader of his own aesthetic-religious cult? Under the impression of the popular identification of Nazi Männerbünde with homoerotic coteries like the George-circle, the contributors of the Swiss homophile periodical Der Kreis attempted to create a different George-legend. Their George was cleansed of his authoritarianism, his celebration of the natural aristocracy of same-sex attraction. Der Kreis attempted to strip the poet of his coterie and his communitarian politics, and ultimately sought to establish a homosexuality that replaced the homoerotic “aristocracy” celebrated in George's orbit with a homosexuality fit for post-war democracy and civil society
Aristocracy (class · Art · Art history · George (robot · Homosexuality · Legend · Mythology · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Classics · European history and politics · Gender Studies · German Colonialism and Identity Studies · German Literature and Culture Studies · History · Law
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2013 - 2013 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |