LITERATURE

Marcel Proust, Birago Diop and Leslie Marmon Silko



Marcel Proust, Birago Diop and Leslie Marmon Silko

Marcel Proust

Homosexual himself, Proust wrote himself into a corner describing homosexual relationships. There has been much speculation about what kind of novel A la recherche would have been had Proust felt free to keep actual gender references true to their inspirations—had Albertine been Albert, for instance. This kind of speculation is pointless, however, since neither the times nor Proust's own conservatism would have allowed that measure of truth. Unfortunately, since the main relationships were transformed into heterosexual ones, and since Proust was unable to keep homosexuality out of his novel, the homosexual characters and relationships are shown in contrast to their heterosexual counterparts and come off much the worse for the comparison. André Gide was most concerned about this, and frowned on Proust's negative stereotypes of gay people (Woods, 1995).

So what is the importance of Proust to the gay reader of the 1990s? In the first place, the work is undoubtedly a masterpiece. It is one of those defining moments in literature where the paradigm shifts. Furthermore, it is a portrait of a gay world at one important point in time, a portrait drawn by a homosexual (if not "gay") artist. If the artist disguised his own attractions by straightening them out, and left us with only negatives for our own role models, then we, as informed readers can approach the text with a clearer understanding. George Stambolian interviewed Eric Bentley on the question of homosexual imagination. Their conversation in time turned to Proust. Bentley, while admitting that he is an "unashamed Proust freak, maniac" states unequivocally that a modern gay reader would find A la recherche du temps perdu gloomy (Woods, 1995).

Birago Diop

Imbued with an extraordinary talent, Birago Diop succeeded in establishing the ontological bases of African society in the second part of his collection of poetry, where his vision of nature is instructive on the cosmic vitalism of human beings and he elaborates a thesis on the soul's generating principle. He defines life as a perpetual movement of recomposition, with the soul's revitalization taking effect through cosmic elements. In postulating the permanence of organic matter, Birago Diop seeks in particular to establish a link of interdependence between mankind and nature, the dwelling place of his ancestors, the regulators of the human race. This is the spiritual source of the universe into which Negritude poets ...