Art and Androgyny: The Aerialist
Among the many circus performers who have fascinated writers and artists since Romanticism, the clown and the aerialist predominate. In the nineteenth century, the tightrope artiste inspired comparisons with the (self-styled) equally daring and equally craftsmanlike poet. The vertical metaphor sugge...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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New Prairie Press
1989-08-01
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| Series: | Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature |
| Online Access: | http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol13/iss2/3 |
| _version_ | 1819072323975643136 |
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| author | Naomi Ritter |
| author_facet | Naomi Ritter |
| author_sort | Naomi Ritter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Among the many circus performers who have fascinated writers and artists since Romanticism, the clown and the aerialist predominate. In the nineteenth century, the tightrope artiste inspired comparisons with the (self-styled) equally daring and equally craftsmanlike poet. The vertical metaphor suggested a vision of transcendent art that Romantics and their heirs claimed for themselves. In the twentieth century, vestiges of the same identification and transcendence remain, but a new sexual focus appears also. Two important texts by Cocteau and Thomas Mann, "Le Numero de Barbette" (1926) and Chapter 1 in Book III of Felix Krull ( 1951), show the aerial artiste as sexually ambivalent. An intertextual discussion of these two works highlights unnoted similarities in the seemingly opposed aesthetics of the two writers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T17:35:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-20eb195bbfde4b1d85bc1789cc416a63 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2334-4415 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T17:35:55Z |
| publishDate | 1989-08-01 |
| publisher | New Prairie Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature |
| spelling | doaj.art-20eb195bbfde4b1d85bc1789cc416a632022-12-21T18:55:45ZengNew Prairie PressStudies in 20th & 21st Century Literature2334-44151989-08-0113210.4148/2334-4415.12315609169Art and Androgyny: The AerialistNaomi RitterAmong the many circus performers who have fascinated writers and artists since Romanticism, the clown and the aerialist predominate. In the nineteenth century, the tightrope artiste inspired comparisons with the (self-styled) equally daring and equally craftsmanlike poet. The vertical metaphor suggested a vision of transcendent art that Romantics and their heirs claimed for themselves. In the twentieth century, vestiges of the same identification and transcendence remain, but a new sexual focus appears also. Two important texts by Cocteau and Thomas Mann, "Le Numero de Barbette" (1926) and Chapter 1 in Book III of Felix Krull ( 1951), show the aerial artiste as sexually ambivalent. An intertextual discussion of these two works highlights unnoted similarities in the seemingly opposed aesthetics of the two writers.http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol13/iss2/3 |
| spellingShingle | Naomi Ritter Art and Androgyny: The Aerialist Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature |
| title | Art and Androgyny: The Aerialist |
| title_full | Art and Androgyny: The Aerialist |
| title_fullStr | Art and Androgyny: The Aerialist |
| title_full_unstemmed | Art and Androgyny: The Aerialist |
| title_short | Art and Androgyny: The Aerialist |
| title_sort | art and androgyny the aerialist |
| url | http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol13/iss2/3 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT naomiritter artandandrogynytheaerialist |