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Corydon
Considered by Gide to be the most important of his books, this slim, exquisitely crafted volume consists of four dialogues on the subject of homosexuality and its place in society. Published anonymously in bits and pieces between 1911 and 1920, Corydon first appeared in a signed, commercial edition in France in 1924 and in the United States in 1950, the year before Gide's death. The present edition features the impeccable translation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Richard Howard. In spirited dialogue with his bigoted, boorish interviewer, Corydon marshals evidence from naturalists, historians, poets, and philosophers to support his contention that homosexuality pervaded the most culturally and artistically advanced civilizations, from Greece in the age of Pericles to Renaissance Italy and England in the age of Shakespeare. Although obscured by later critics, literature and art from Homer to Titian proclaim the true nature of relationships between such lovers as Achilles and Patrocles—not to mention Virgil's mythical Corydon and his shepherd, Alexis, constructed union, while the more fundamental, natural relation is the homosexual one. "My friends insist that this little book is of the kind which will do me the greatest harm," Gide wrote of his Corydon. In these pages, contemporary readers will find a prescient and courageous treatment of a topic that has scarcely become less controversial.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1920
45 people are currently reading
1413 people want to read
About the author
André Gide
905 books1,729 followersDiaries and novels, such as
The Immoralist
(1902) and
Lafcadio's Adventures
(1914), of noted French writer André Gide examine alienation and the drive for individuality in an often disapproving society; he won the Nobel Prize of 1947 for literature.
André Paul Guillaume Gide authored books. From beginnings in the symbolist movement, career of Gide ranged to anticolonialism between the two World Wars.
Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide exposes the conflict and eventual reconciliation to public view between the two sides of his personality; a straight-laced education and a narrow social moralism split apart these sides. One can see work of Gide as an investigation of freedom and empowerment in the face of moralistic and puritan constraints, and it gravitates around his continuous effort to achieve intellectual honesty. His self-exploratory texts reflect his search of full self, even to the point of owning sexual nature without betraying values at the same time. After his voyage of 1936 to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the same ethos informs his political activity, as his repudiation of Communism suggests.
Chinese 安德烈·纪德
André Paul Guillaume Gide authored books. From beginnings in the symbolist movement, career of Gide ranged to anticolonialism between the two World Wars.
Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide exposes the conflict and eventual reconciliation to public view between the two sides of his personality; a straight-laced education and a narrow social moralism split apart these sides. One can see work of Gide as an investigation of freedom and empowerment in the face of moralistic and puritan constraints, and it gravitates around his continuous effort to achieve intellectual honesty. His self-exploratory texts reflect his search of full self, even to the point of owning sexual nature without betraying values at the same time. After his voyage of 1936 to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the same ethos informs his political activity, as his repudiation of Communism suggests.
Chinese 安德烈·纪德
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
May 20, 2011
The book that shaped my life to the very inch. When I was reading this marvellous dialogue and thesis in defence of homosexuality, I was completely mesmerised by the clarity of the arguments, the variation of philosophical and scientific opinions, the unprecedented compassion and acknowledgement of the Human Nature. This very small volume makes you see Homosexuality and Love in general with a more mature, down-to -earth perspective, as a natural selection of the living species on Earth. What is more, you can fathom and perceive the hypocricy and the inhuman social policy of the Human Society and Civilization, through the ages. An enlighting masterpiece, which should be taught in schools.
October 8, 2023
If I had my druthers, I’d tape a copy of this book to the underside of every chair in every reborn, evangelical, new wave ‘fundamentalist” born again bullshit Christian church in the world. Thy enemy is wearing a very bad suit, and using a wireless headset—like Winger.
June 4, 2024
In Vergil's second Eclogue, the shepherd Corydon bemoans his unrequited love—the boy, Alexis, barely notices him and Corydon is tortured by Alexis' cruel disinterest. Corydon's extended lament turns into a bucolic song, a panegyric of the joys of rustic life, its animals and flowers, and it ends with a stinging resolution that he will find another Alexis to make him happy. Corydon's ardent and unapologizing love for a boy has served throughout the centuries as a testament to the long history of same-sex love. André Gide's Corydon turns this classical antecedent upside-down. In this novella, the year is 1900. Corydon is not a shepherd but a medical doctor with an interest in Darwinian phylogeny and classical philosophy. Alexis is not a callous heart-throb but Corydon's erstwhile fiancee's younger brother who has tragically died by suicide because he could not accept his homosexuality. Instead of pastoral poetry, the novella is a series of dialogues examining gender in the animal kingdom, the history of homosexuality and the true meaning of love. Vergil's Corydon, the singing shepherd celebrating same-sex desire, becomes a more didactic and polemical Corydon, discoursing on nature versus custom, the role of masculinity in society and the cultural necessity of homosexuality.
Forster quipped that "Gide didn't have a great mind; he had a free mind" and Corydon is definitely a wide-ranging and capacious dialogue: Darwin, Montesquieu, Theocritus, La Rochefoucauld, Plato, Plutarch, Longus, and lurking beneath all of these citations but never named—Schiller. To Schiller, the pastoral genre was the epitome of sentimental poetry. Whereas the hoary epic poet, like Homer, is a naive observer of the world and nature, simply describing the virtues of the people around him, the pastoral poet writes with a sense of loss—that the world has changed, that the connection with nature has been ruptured, that society and humanity have become corrupt, and the only solution is to restore this primal relationship with pure nature. The bucolic song is fundamentally an expression of nostalgia for a by-gone time of natural harmony and simplicity. Gide's dialogue refracts all of these ideas and themes into a pointed critique of homophobia. Corydon looks at the new scientific treatises from Darwin and sees in nature a vindication of homosexuality: same-sex attraction can be found in dogs and pigeons (Plutarch and Longus in his Daphnis and Chloe already noted this). More controversially, citing Malthus, Corydon argues that homosexuality is necessary because humanity requires a certain proportion of child-bearing women and non-fertile men. Corydon, in fact, would want to resurrect the Athenian institution of pederasty (though like Plato, it is very much framed as a chaste, unconsummated relationship). Homosexuality is not a radical transgression; it has a basis in nature and history.
What I found most interesting is the way that Corydon interconnects homophobia with xenophobia and misogyny. Corydon's skeptical interlocutor repeatedly argues that homosexuality is something foreign—that it is a degeneracy found in Germany or England or Italy but not France and that it was originally brought to Greece by effeminate migrants from the East; in a classic anti-Semitic move, he then compares homosexuality to the supposed corrupting influence of Jews on the Western world. Corydon counters that people in Africa say the same thing about the French colonizers, that this is the familiar rhetorical strategy of bigots who want to recast queerness as some kind of contagion or pollution rather than something endemic to all societies. Spanning wider, Corydon argues that if men embraced male beauty and accepted homosexuality as the cultural norm, they would not be so inclined to objectify and demean women: as he counters, it was precisely when the decadence of Asia Minor supplanted the "masculine Doric architecture", when the Athenian gymnasiums were abandoned, when "uranism yielded to heterosexuality", that heterosexuality became the public standard and misogyny became its complement. As he argues "just as respect for women usually accompanies uranism, so we see the woman less honored as soon as she is more desired".
This is a fascinating novel, full of encyclopedic curiosities and philosophical maxims. Its defense of same-sex love is obviously dated in a number of ways but it is prescient in the way it implicates homophobia, nationalism and racism.
Forster quipped that "Gide didn't have a great mind; he had a free mind" and Corydon is definitely a wide-ranging and capacious dialogue: Darwin, Montesquieu, Theocritus, La Rochefoucauld, Plato, Plutarch, Longus, and lurking beneath all of these citations but never named—Schiller. To Schiller, the pastoral genre was the epitome of sentimental poetry. Whereas the hoary epic poet, like Homer, is a naive observer of the world and nature, simply describing the virtues of the people around him, the pastoral poet writes with a sense of loss—that the world has changed, that the connection with nature has been ruptured, that society and humanity have become corrupt, and the only solution is to restore this primal relationship with pure nature. The bucolic song is fundamentally an expression of nostalgia for a by-gone time of natural harmony and simplicity. Gide's dialogue refracts all of these ideas and themes into a pointed critique of homophobia. Corydon looks at the new scientific treatises from Darwin and sees in nature a vindication of homosexuality: same-sex attraction can be found in dogs and pigeons (Plutarch and Longus in his Daphnis and Chloe already noted this). More controversially, citing Malthus, Corydon argues that homosexuality is necessary because humanity requires a certain proportion of child-bearing women and non-fertile men. Corydon, in fact, would want to resurrect the Athenian institution of pederasty (though like Plato, it is very much framed as a chaste, unconsummated relationship). Homosexuality is not a radical transgression; it has a basis in nature and history.
What I found most interesting is the way that Corydon interconnects homophobia with xenophobia and misogyny. Corydon's skeptical interlocutor repeatedly argues that homosexuality is something foreign—that it is a degeneracy found in Germany or England or Italy but not France and that it was originally brought to Greece by effeminate migrants from the East; in a classic anti-Semitic move, he then compares homosexuality to the supposed corrupting influence of Jews on the Western world. Corydon counters that people in Africa say the same thing about the French colonizers, that this is the familiar rhetorical strategy of bigots who want to recast queerness as some kind of contagion or pollution rather than something endemic to all societies. Spanning wider, Corydon argues that if men embraced male beauty and accepted homosexuality as the cultural norm, they would not be so inclined to objectify and demean women: as he counters, it was precisely when the decadence of Asia Minor supplanted the "masculine Doric architecture", when the Athenian gymnasiums were abandoned, when "uranism yielded to heterosexuality", that heterosexuality became the public standard and misogyny became its complement. As he argues "just as respect for women usually accompanies uranism, so we see the woman less honored as soon as she is more desired".
This is a fascinating novel, full of encyclopedic curiosities and philosophical maxims. Its defense of same-sex love is obviously dated in a number of ways but it is prescient in the way it implicates homophobia, nationalism and racism.
August 14, 2022
3,6⭐️ Um conjunto de ensaios singular e subversivo, à luz da época histórica em que foi concebido. Sem dúvida que a sua importância se segura, atualmente, mais nessa vertente de perspetiva histórica do que nos próprios argumentos que surgem ao longo 4 diálogos, em “defesa” da homossexualidade. Estes, simultaneamente datados e um produto do tempo em que foram idealizados, podem não ser tão sagazes ou inovadores, no nosso contexto, como foram outrora. Não deixam, no entanto, de ser pertinentes e de ainda hoje conseguirmos identificar as mesmas discussões, atualizadas e retrabalhadas com novos termos e asserções, na sociedade em que vivemos. Um livro que demonstra que já muito se andou em termos de mentalidade, mas que o caminho ainda é longo e retorcido e que os tabus e a tacanhez ainda limitam o nosso raciocínio, os nossos relacionamentos e a nossa vivência em sociedade.
February 21, 2023
"Que devemos ao uranismo o respeito pela mulher e, por isso, as admiráveis figuras de mulheres e raparigas que encontramos no teatro de Sófocles e Shakespeare. E, tal como o respeito pela mulher acompanha habitualmente o uranismo, assim vemos a mulher menos honrada a partir do momento em que, geralmente, é mais cobiçada. Compreenda que isso é natural."
Um ensaio sob a forma de diálogo no qual se faz a defesa e a apologia da homossexualidade. Constituído por quatro partes, o Narrador, céptico em relação a esta orientação sexual, toma a iniciativa de procurar Córidon, antigo amigo, colega de liceu, médico e reconhecido pederasta. O Narrador está convencido de que o ressurgimento da homossexualidade apenas poderá levar à degradação da sociedade como a conhecemos. Será mesmo assim?
Partindo de uma explicação biológica do instinto sexual nos animais, Gide, qual biblioteca portátil, qual poço de sabedoria (tantas são as referências a que recorre), faz a apologia da sua teoria de que a homossexualidade é tão ou mais natural do que a heterossexualidade, argumentando que, perdido o poder do olfacto de guiar a repercussão da espécie no ser humano, os costumes, as leis, a sociedade e a ornamentação da mulher, entre outros, substituem o olfacto, enredando o Homem na heterossexualidade. Mas, como explica na última secção, nem sempre foi assim. Basta olhar para a Grécia antiga, cujos textos chegam à actualidade frequentemente extirpados do seu sentido original por uma visão mais conservadora, mas que mesmo assim retêm o seu significado.
Gostei imenso de ler este livro! Deste modo, quero também referir o incrível trabalho do tradutor. Sem as notas finais acrescentadas a esta edição pelo mesmo não teria sido capaz de entender nem metade do texto do autor. É uma profusão tal de conhecimento e de referências, em todos os campos do conhecimento e da cultura, que teria demorado demasiado a entender este texto.
Sinto que este diálogo serviu como mais um impulso para ler as restantes obras de André Gide!
Um ensaio sob a forma de diálogo no qual se faz a defesa e a apologia da homossexualidade. Constituído por quatro partes, o Narrador, céptico em relação a esta orientação sexual, toma a iniciativa de procurar Córidon, antigo amigo, colega de liceu, médico e reconhecido pederasta. O Narrador está convencido de que o ressurgimento da homossexualidade apenas poderá levar à degradação da sociedade como a conhecemos. Será mesmo assim?
Partindo de uma explicação biológica do instinto sexual nos animais, Gide, qual biblioteca portátil, qual poço de sabedoria (tantas são as referências a que recorre), faz a apologia da sua teoria de que a homossexualidade é tão ou mais natural do que a heterossexualidade, argumentando que, perdido o poder do olfacto de guiar a repercussão da espécie no ser humano, os costumes, as leis, a sociedade e a ornamentação da mulher, entre outros, substituem o olfacto, enredando o Homem na heterossexualidade. Mas, como explica na última secção, nem sempre foi assim. Basta olhar para a Grécia antiga, cujos textos chegam à actualidade frequentemente extirpados do seu sentido original por uma visão mais conservadora, mas que mesmo assim retêm o seu significado.
Gostei imenso de ler este livro! Deste modo, quero também referir o incrível trabalho do tradutor. Sem as notas finais acrescentadas a esta edição pelo mesmo não teria sido capaz de entender nem metade do texto do autor. É uma profusão tal de conhecimento e de referências, em todos os campos do conhecimento e da cultura, que teria demorado demasiado a entender este texto.
Sinto que este diálogo serviu como mais um impulso para ler as restantes obras de André Gide!
February 6, 2015
The first dialogue was interesting because the arguments were so like modern arguments about homosexuality. The second dialogue, consisting mostly of descriptions of animal mating habits, I found rather unfortunate and far too long. The third and fourth I felt included some of that depressing brand of gay male misogyny, which again one sometimes hears today. This was a formative text for early 20th century discussions of homosexuality, but it definitely doesn't last because Gide doesn't really transcend his own time. Gide also doesn't do much for me in general, which is why having to read so much of him for my thesis is a drag.
May 10, 2021
2,5.
Essai sur l’homosexualité masculine sous forme de dialogue pour/contre. André Gide base son argumentation en faveur de l’homosexualité sur les travaux de Darwin sur les animaux, mais aussi sur les textes anciens et la civilisation grecque. Malheureusement son écriture est beaucoup trop scientifique, il utilise un tas de termes techniques qui empêchent la compréhension de certains arguments.
De plus, il utilise à plusieurs reprises des arguments misogynes et sexistes en faveur de l’homosexualité. L’homosexualité masculine déconstruite, la misogynie n’en est que plus prégnante. C’est dommage.
Essai sur l’homosexualité masculine sous forme de dialogue pour/contre. André Gide base son argumentation en faveur de l’homosexualité sur les travaux de Darwin sur les animaux, mais aussi sur les textes anciens et la civilisation grecque. Malheureusement son écriture est beaucoup trop scientifique, il utilise un tas de termes techniques qui empêchent la compréhension de certains arguments.
De plus, il utilise à plusieurs reprises des arguments misogynes et sexistes en faveur de l’homosexualité. L’homosexualité masculine déconstruite, la misogynie n’en est que plus prégnante. C’est dommage.
February 15, 2011
A "period piece" from a period that's way-back-when in modernism. The Socratic argument is weak and, I think, unnecessary. Gide takes the wrong approach here--but he was a writer of his time.
Of interest are his comments on Proust--his explanation of why Charlus is such a superior creation than Albertine.
And amusing that Gide feels offended when accused of not making his homosexuality explicit soon enough. His great works, "The Immoralist" and "The Counterfeiters" puts that accusation immediately to rest.
Read "The Immoralist."
Of interest are his comments on Proust--his explanation of why Charlus is such a superior creation than Albertine.
And amusing that Gide feels offended when accused of not making his homosexuality explicit soon enough. His great works, "The Immoralist" and "The Counterfeiters" puts that accusation immediately to rest.
Read "The Immoralist."
June 16, 2020
A collection of essays which must be viewed in their historical contexts. This book was ahead of its time, but now reads as defensive, apologetic, and frankly quite boring to a modern or sympathetic reader.
Only by imagining how shocking and daring this topic was, just 20 years after Oscar Wilde was sent to jail and his family changed their name. The need for such a text as this speaks loudly of the times— and they were almost unimaginable in today’s world.
Only by imagining how shocking and daring this topic was, just 20 years after Oscar Wilde was sent to jail and his family changed their name. The need for such a text as this speaks loudly of the times— and they were almost unimaginable in today’s world.
August 21, 2022
André Gide, eşcinsel bir yazar. Bu kitabında da eşcinselliğin; antik Yunan'da, eski çağlardaki kültürlerdeki, edebiyattaki yansımalarından bahsedip, bu konuyu sosyolojik ve antropolojik açıdan ele almış. Bu alanda akademik araştırmalar yapan kişilere bu kitabı önerebilirim.
"...aşk oyunlarında en büyük ustalıkları, hatta isterseniz sapıklıkları diyelim, kibar fahişelerde değil, birtakım "dürüst" evliliklerde aramak gerekir." sf 24
"...aşk oyunlarında en büyük ustalıkları, hatta isterseniz sapıklıkları diyelim, kibar fahişelerde değil, birtakım "dürüst" evliliklerde aramak gerekir." sf 24
Read
July 29, 2021Sooo much animal sex 😍
May 1, 2012
Considerando que este libro fue publicado por primera vez hace casi un siglo, es sorprendente comprobar que la homofobia y la intolerancia no han cambiado prácticamente en nada sus argumentos y razones. Y sorprendente es también que Gide, citando libros, ensayos y estudios, construye una argumentación no muy diferente a la que podría elaborar algún estudioso del tema de la actualidad. Todo eso me hace pensar en lo básico de ambas posturas. Evidentemente se encuentran elementos que hoy en día chocan un poco, como los comentarios acerca de los judíos y el diálogo en el que se intenta probar que las mujeres no son naturalmente atractivas y que por eso necesitan ayudarse con maquillaje y adornos. Un toque antisemita y un trasfondo en el que se nota la visión machista subvaloradora de la mujer característicos de la época, pero que no dañan la brillantez del texto. Afortunadamente todo parecería indicar que el progreso del Hombre ha hecho que el racismo y el sexismo vayan en franca decadencia. En cuanto a la tolerancia a la homosexualidad, a pesar de notables avances en todo el mundo, es obvio que todavía falta mucho, y el hecho de que los argumentos a favor y en contra sigan siendo prácticamente los mismos que hace un siglo debería llevarnos a reflexionar acerca del motivo de esa "parálisis". Un libro que se lee fácilmente, rápido y que se disfruta mucho. Totalmente recomendable.
November 3, 2018
A quick read, a bit dated of course, but interesting for the historical perspective, as well as how much of it--particularly the first dialogue--still pertains today. Here we are, a hundred years after the first edition made perfectly cogent and undeniable arguments, continuing to have the same debate in almost the same words.
I do want to make a note on Gide's use of the word "pederast", which seems to confuse some reviewers. It doesn't have the same meaning as our word "pedophile", which denotes an attraction to very young children who have not entered puberty. What he's talking about is a relationship between a man in his twenties or thirties and a boy in his teens. (They didn't have the word teenager then; the concept had yet to be invented.) This is in France, which until just a few years ago had no such thing as a legal age of consent, and men were free to diddle 12 year girls all day long. Corydon, in his argument, is simply asking for the same rules to apply to boys.
I do want to make a note on Gide's use of the word "pederast", which seems to confuse some reviewers. It doesn't have the same meaning as our word "pedophile", which denotes an attraction to very young children who have not entered puberty. What he's talking about is a relationship between a man in his twenties or thirties and a boy in his teens. (They didn't have the word teenager then; the concept had yet to be invented.) This is in France, which until just a few years ago had no such thing as a legal age of consent, and men were free to diddle 12 year girls all day long. Corydon, in his argument, is simply asking for the same rules to apply to boys.
February 1, 2016
Some of the dialogues are more interesting and effective than others (the first is the best, and I can see why his friends encouraged him to stop while he was "ahead"), and the overall piece is certainly outdated; still, and unfortunately, much of the argument made here remains relevant. This is also an excellent example of the political, social, legal, and philosophical arguments surrounding homosexuality in the early-1900s. Gide makes a truly troubling slip at the very end of the final dialogue, but perhaps that was unavoidable given the time. The Socratic dialogues aren't necessarily very sophisticated, but they're not without value.
November 26, 2021
I'm very surprised after seeing some are recommending this book as a "short read" while it was anything but that in case you are well interested in grasping the very essence of this work. With so many scientific and literature references, it took me over a week to finish the dialogues with nothing but researching those points I was most interested in. Since I am placing Corydon in the context of time it was written in, I am free to give the book four stars, especially because some of the arguments made here are still relevant.
I also really enjoyed the last two letters and the short discussion on Dante and his view on homosexuality.
I also really enjoyed the last two letters and the short discussion on Dante and his view on homosexuality.
to-not-read
February 9, 2018Despite his eloquence, I just can't bring myself to read beautiful sentences if they're in defense of pederasty.
It's remarkable how beautifully crafted his journal is, even when writing about sex with underage boys. He doesn't even apologize!
What a waste. Wonder if I should just toss the rest of his books as well... There's so many other books I could read.
It's remarkable how beautifully crafted his journal is, even when writing about sex with underage boys. He doesn't even apologize!
What a waste. Wonder if I should just toss the rest of his books as well... There's so many other books I could read.
May 18, 2020
sevgili gide, bundan yaklaşık 120 yıl önce bu kitabı yazarkenki motivasyonunu düşününce sana bir kere daha hayran kaldım. biz 2020 yılında türkiye’de netflix eşcinselliği yayıyor, istanbul sözleşmesi aile kurumunu yok ediyor falan gibi şeyler okuyoruz her gün.
review olmadı bu, şikayet oldu. neyse.
review olmadı bu, şikayet oldu. neyse.
April 14, 2025
«Necesito, ante todo, no sólo comprobar y reconocer la homosexualidad como natural, sino también intentar explicarla y comprender su razón de ser».
Que André Gide tuviese la valentía de publicar el Corydon con los citados objetivos por bandera y en un tiempo aún tan inclemente con el uranismo como el de 1920 supuso y supondrá eternamente toda una loable hazaña por la que este olvidadizo mundo nunca llegará a mostrarle el suficiente agradecimiento.
Podría ser posible que, desde estos tiempos posmodernos, algún lector aturullado se espantase al contemplar la excluyente argumentación por la que el autor de este ensayo se entrega a una supuestamente exclusivista defensa del «amor griego». Del mismo modo, también podría ser posible que otro lector confundido tuviese la osadía de recriminarles a estas líneas el error de caer en unas conclusiones demasiado tímidas o veladas. Pues bien: yo me siento en la necesidad de afirmar que lanzarle a Gide cualquiera de estos reproches sería totalmente injusto. Es innegable que, después de más de cien años, ya son varios los puntos de su tesis que se alejan de forma radical de las ideas de nuestro tiempo. ¿Pero cuántos son los aspectos del Corydon que se han mantenido del todo vigentes hasta nuestro mismísimo presente? ¡Incontables! ¡Verdaderamente incontables! He de admitir que, para mí, este elevado grado de perdurabilidad de la obra ha terminado siendo lo más impresionante. No obstante, creo que es de ley acabar por donde he empezado. Y es que —estén sus planteamientos caducos o, muy por el contrario, de rigurosa actualidad— lo que prima por encima de todo es el coraje del que Gide se valió para sacar a la luz su documentadísimo Corydon y dejar claro que «... había que decirlo hoy».
Que André Gide tuviese la valentía de publicar el Corydon con los citados objetivos por bandera y en un tiempo aún tan inclemente con el uranismo como el de 1920 supuso y supondrá eternamente toda una loable hazaña por la que este olvidadizo mundo nunca llegará a mostrarle el suficiente agradecimiento.
Podría ser posible que, desde estos tiempos posmodernos, algún lector aturullado se espantase al contemplar la excluyente argumentación por la que el autor de este ensayo se entrega a una supuestamente exclusivista defensa del «amor griego». Del mismo modo, también podría ser posible que otro lector confundido tuviese la osadía de recriminarles a estas líneas el error de caer en unas conclusiones demasiado tímidas o veladas. Pues bien: yo me siento en la necesidad de afirmar que lanzarle a Gide cualquiera de estos reproches sería totalmente injusto. Es innegable que, después de más de cien años, ya son varios los puntos de su tesis que se alejan de forma radical de las ideas de nuestro tiempo. ¿Pero cuántos son los aspectos del Corydon que se han mantenido del todo vigentes hasta nuestro mismísimo presente? ¡Incontables! ¡Verdaderamente incontables! He de admitir que, para mí, este elevado grado de perdurabilidad de la obra ha terminado siendo lo más impresionante. No obstante, creo que es de ley acabar por donde he empezado. Y es que —estén sus planteamientos caducos o, muy por el contrario, de rigurosa actualidad— lo que prima por encima de todo es el coraje del que Gide se valió para sacar a la luz su documentadísimo Corydon y dejar claro que «... había que decirlo hoy».
March 20, 2024
3.5
Far more interesting writers have come along to comment on the intersection between nature, society and sexuality (Houellebecq's "The Elementary Particles", Paglia's "Sexual Personae", to name a few). Gide provides astute analyses on the female and male form in art, and a defense of the masculine homosexual in a time when homosexual men were thought to exhibit exclusively effeminate characteristics. Overall "Corydon" is a period piece, but one necessary for its period.
Should you read "Corydon"? If you have time, I say.
Far more interesting writers have come along to comment on the intersection between nature, society and sexuality (Houellebecq's "The Elementary Particles", Paglia's "Sexual Personae", to name a few). Gide provides astute analyses on the female and male form in art, and a defense of the masculine homosexual in a time when homosexual men were thought to exhibit exclusively effeminate characteristics. Overall "Corydon" is a period piece, but one necessary for its period.
Should you read "Corydon"? If you have time, I say.
September 5, 2021
a fascinating dialogue. lesser gide, to be sure, but a matter-of-fact discussion of the nature of sexual desire, the choice or tendency toward homosexuality among some males, the tendency toward pederasty or mentoring in some societies (Sparta, Athens, Thebes, the "Elizabethan stage," and so on), and the artistic and social merits thereof.
Women are very much on the sidelines here, but if you've ever interacted with mentors or would-be mentors of this sort, you'll recognize the arguments, including bits about how this is a sort of service, how one's sexuality can re-form post-adolescence, how male mentors are superior to older female mentors, and so on. The men making such arguments - I fondly remember a few from my time at UNC-Chapel Hill two decades ago - would certainly contest the pairing of the "L" and the "G" in that long latter-day acronym; theirs was a "fleet's in" world, surely a lost world even if "minor-attracted persons" gain some form of protection or cultural recognition, of men and boys, and no others.
for some reason, I had the ability to post my notes in the text, so I've added all 302 of them to GR.
Women are very much on the sidelines here, but if you've ever interacted with mentors or would-be mentors of this sort, you'll recognize the arguments, including bits about how this is a sort of service, how one's sexuality can re-form post-adolescence, how male mentors are superior to older female mentors, and so on. The men making such arguments - I fondly remember a few from my time at UNC-Chapel Hill two decades ago - would certainly contest the pairing of the "L" and the "G" in that long latter-day acronym; theirs was a "fleet's in" world, surely a lost world even if "minor-attracted persons" gain some form of protection or cultural recognition, of men and boys, and no others.
for some reason, I had the ability to post my notes in the text, so I've added all 302 of them to GR.
May 31, 2024
Interesting, is the best and worst thing I can say about it. It gives a clear view of the life, times and anxiety of the author. The Swedish translation - that I read, but isn't available on this app - was really well done.
July 21, 2015
Corydon, both a title and an allusion to a shepherd who loves a fellow shepherd, is André Gide’s defense of “uranist desires,” or what we call male homosexuality. It should be noted, Gide is specific about the type of same-sex love he is defending, love and sex between two men. It’s also worth noting that this text is not without missteps, notably his unsavory discussion about women, who use “veil and adornments” to lead men toward them. This particular translation by Richard Howard is superb; it is both lyrical and poetic. Additionally, all of the prefaces written by Gide are maintained, providing greater context for the actual four dialogues. Overall, this translation is stellar—a worthy read for any Gide or LGBT enthusiast.
Corydon was written over several years, with many changes and addition added by Gide. The result is four dialogues, which not only defend gay men, but also condemn gay men from hiding and refusing to be open about their homosexuality. In Gide’s 1920 preface to the second edition he writes: “What I have to say about such things does not bring them into existence. They exist. I am trying to explain why they exist. And since in most cases no one is willing to admit that such things exist, I am examining, I am trying to examine, whether it is really as deplorable as it is said to be—that such things exist.” [text’s emphasis].
Dialogue One really is an answer to all the people who told him not to formally publish this book because of its damning ramification towards Gide. Two old friends argue about homosexuality, Corydon in defense. The friend states: “you swagger around in private and among yourselves, but out in the open and in front of the public your courage evaporates. In your heart of hearts you know perfectly well that the censure heaped on you is entirely deserved; you protest so eloquently in whispers, but when it comes to speaking up, you give in.” It is under this pressure that Gide becomes a “martyr” for his cause.
Dialogue Two is again between the two friends, but this time focuses on explaining nature, and in particular animals. Gide’s new theory of love reverses the “current” theory that “tends to make pederasty into an enterprise contra naturam…this theory has penetrated very deeply into natural history, distorting much of our reasoning and perverting much observation.” He then reestablishes natural history by removing the assumption that opposite sex attraction is “normal” in nature. Gide also discusses “customs” and how customs should not be confused with what is normal or natural.
Dialogue Three and Four focuses on humans, and in particular the arts, humanities, and customs of humans. Gide is especially critical of women’s customs, while also addressing marriage and chastity. Dialogues three and four are more provocative, as they address “Churchmen” [monks who translated history], Jews, and Women.
In Dialogue Four, Gide spends a great deal of time talking about ancient societies, and in particular ancient militaries. I particularly loved his inclusion of Philip of Macedon (Alexander the Great’s father) and his summary of the Thebans carnage. Philip said of the Thebans, “On learning that this was the battalion of lovers, he wept for them and exclaimed: ‘let those perish miserably who dare suggest these men were capable of committing or enduring anything dishonorable.’”
Gide’s discussion on marriage (particularly Léon Blum’s “On Marriage”) is most interesting in 2015, because Gide basically states that homosexual couples are just as likely to function as heterosexual married couples…were they given the chance to marry. Gide also notes that gay people are everywhere, and that it is desire/love and not sex that makes people gay (“chastity can still exist”).
Gide’s Corydon is a fast read, filled with reference to famous people and documents. Howard’s translation, in particular, is pleasant to read, with just the right amount of casualness to make it easily digestible. It’s hard to ignore the dated nature of Gide’s arguments; however, I found great value in reading Gide’s perspective—one that I believe represents a time and a place among a community of exceptionally famous artists and writers who were too afraid to be open about their homosexuality.
Thank you NetGalley and Open Road Integrated Media for providing me with an ARC.
Corydon was written over several years, with many changes and addition added by Gide. The result is four dialogues, which not only defend gay men, but also condemn gay men from hiding and refusing to be open about their homosexuality. In Gide’s 1920 preface to the second edition he writes: “What I have to say about such things does not bring them into existence. They exist. I am trying to explain why they exist. And since in most cases no one is willing to admit that such things exist, I am examining, I am trying to examine, whether it is really as deplorable as it is said to be—that such things exist.” [text’s emphasis].
Dialogue One really is an answer to all the people who told him not to formally publish this book because of its damning ramification towards Gide. Two old friends argue about homosexuality, Corydon in defense. The friend states: “you swagger around in private and among yourselves, but out in the open and in front of the public your courage evaporates. In your heart of hearts you know perfectly well that the censure heaped on you is entirely deserved; you protest so eloquently in whispers, but when it comes to speaking up, you give in.” It is under this pressure that Gide becomes a “martyr” for his cause.
Dialogue Two is again between the two friends, but this time focuses on explaining nature, and in particular animals. Gide’s new theory of love reverses the “current” theory that “tends to make pederasty into an enterprise contra naturam…this theory has penetrated very deeply into natural history, distorting much of our reasoning and perverting much observation.” He then reestablishes natural history by removing the assumption that opposite sex attraction is “normal” in nature. Gide also discusses “customs” and how customs should not be confused with what is normal or natural.
Dialogue Three and Four focuses on humans, and in particular the arts, humanities, and customs of humans. Gide is especially critical of women’s customs, while also addressing marriage and chastity. Dialogues three and four are more provocative, as they address “Churchmen” [monks who translated history], Jews, and Women.
In Dialogue Four, Gide spends a great deal of time talking about ancient societies, and in particular ancient militaries. I particularly loved his inclusion of Philip of Macedon (Alexander the Great’s father) and his summary of the Thebans carnage. Philip said of the Thebans, “On learning that this was the battalion of lovers, he wept for them and exclaimed: ‘let those perish miserably who dare suggest these men were capable of committing or enduring anything dishonorable.’”
Gide’s discussion on marriage (particularly Léon Blum’s “On Marriage”) is most interesting in 2015, because Gide basically states that homosexual couples are just as likely to function as heterosexual married couples…were they given the chance to marry. Gide also notes that gay people are everywhere, and that it is desire/love and not sex that makes people gay (“chastity can still exist”).
Gide’s Corydon is a fast read, filled with reference to famous people and documents. Howard’s translation, in particular, is pleasant to read, with just the right amount of casualness to make it easily digestible. It’s hard to ignore the dated nature of Gide’s arguments; however, I found great value in reading Gide’s perspective—one that I believe represents a time and a place among a community of exceptionally famous artists and writers who were too afraid to be open about their homosexuality.
Thank you NetGalley and Open Road Integrated Media for providing me with an ARC.
September 10, 2024
This book was mainly interesting and valuable for its early defense of homosexuality. In terms of its science and natural theories, though, it seemed inaccurate in several different respects (though not every single bit of it). As Frank Beach says, it entirely leaves out lesbians in its explanation of homosexuality, and, to top it off, it’s a bit sexist. (Besides just ringing as inaccurate.) I don’t think the made-up theories were necessary to defend homosexuality, but, then, at the time he was writing, they were—and they weren’t even enough, since people still thought it was disgusting and immoral. On the positive end, it was very easy to read and I was finished with it quickly. I also liked a lot of the passages, and I was happy to read another work by Gide. I’m looking forward to reading The Immoralist—that’s on my list. Hopefully I can get to it within a month or less.
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April 2, 2012Comprado em Paris, há uns anos atrás, tal como 'Giovanni's Room', na língua original (francês!). Comecei e pousei. O meu francês não está lá muito bem, neste momento, e não sei se melhorará com o tempo, mesmo depois de 8 anos de (algum) estudo...
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March 24, 2021I’m going to read this one more time before I rate it... I need to let it simmer in my brain a bit.
October 22, 2023
Κορυντόν. Αντέ Ζιντ
“Η ομοφυλοφιλία, όπως και η ετεροφυλοφιλία, έχει τους διεφθαρμένους, τους βιτσιόζους και τους αρρώστους της”.
“Δεν υπάρχει αμφιβολία ότι η φύση δεν είναι ομοιόμορφη. Η συνήθεια την κάνει έτσι, γιατί την εκβιάζει. Και μερικές φορές η φύση επικρατεί, και διατηρεί το ένστικτο του ανθρώπου παρ’όλες τις συνήθειες, καλές ή κακές".
Το Κορυντόν (Corydon, απ΄το κορυδών, όπως ο Αριστοτέλης αποκαλεί τον κορυδαλλό- υπαινικτική χρήση του ονόματος για του επαμφοτερίζοντες σεξουαλικά) θα μπορούσε να είναι μια μελέτη για τους ουρανιστές (ποιητική λέξη για τους παιδεραστές) ή ένας διάλογος ανάμεσα σε δύο φίλους που με σεβασμό ο ένας απέναντι στον άλλον και ακόμα μεγαλύτερο στην ίδια τη διαδικασία ενός πολιτισμένου διαλόγου, διεξάγουν τη συζήτησή τους κατά τη σωκρατική διαλεκτική, αναπροσαρμοσμένη φυσικά στις απαιτήσεις και ιδιαιτερότητες του εν λόγω διαλεγόμενου διδύμου. Το συγγραφικό εγχείρημα του Ζιντ, αναφορικά με την εποχή που γράφτηκε και γνωρίζοντας κάποια προσωπικά στοιχεία της πορείας του συγγραφέα, αποδίδει στην απόφαση της συγγραφής του βιβλίου του μια ποιότητα που, ενώ θα μπορούσε να το καταστήσει ευάλωτο στην κριτική, το καθιστά μια διαχρονική δημιουργία, μια πολύτιμη παρακαταθήκη για αξίες όπως ο σεβασμός, η αξιοπρέπεια, η αποδοχή και η αντικειμενικότητα ενισχύοντας με ουσία το περιεχόμενό του και θωρακίζοντας το νόημα της ίδιας της πρόθεσης του δημιουργού του.
Ο Ζιντ χρωματίζει αυτούς τους-μοναδικής εκφραστικής δεξιοτεχνίας- διαλόγους με λεπτή ειρωνεία την οποία καλλιεργεί στους ίδιους τους κόλπους της γλωσσικής τους απόδοσης ως αυτόνομο εκφραστικό μέσο, υποστηρίζοντας με την αισθητική του επινόηση, πέρα από τη γλωσσική και την μορφική διάταξη της αφήγησής του, παράλληλα με την ζωντάνια που ο διάλογος προσδίδει στα χαρακτηριστικά του κειμένου του. Η εξελικτική μεθοδικότητα και σαφήνεια της διήγησής του στέκεται με απόλυτη ειλικρίνεια απέναντι στις προκαταλήψεις, εξασφαλίζοντας την αντικειμενικότητα μέσω της διαλογικής παράθεσης των επιχειρημάτων των δύο συνομιλητών σε μια δυναμική παραβολή απόψεων ζώσας ενεργητικότητας. Το Κορυντόν είναι μια δημιουργία που χρησιμοποιεί τον υπαινιγμό συχνά στην απόδοση του λόγου για να πετύχει μια ποιητικοποίηση των επιστημονικών δεδομένων και μελετών που χρησιμοποιούνται ως στοιχεία πειθούς και των ορθολογικών επιχειρημάτων των δύο διαλεγομένων, κάποια εκ των οποίων θα σας κάνουν να προβληματιστείτε και κάποια άλλα να χαμογελάσετε με την ευφυέστατη τοποθέτησή τους ως τεκμήρια της εκάστοτε άποψης- ακόμα κι όταν διαφωνείτε- ενώ παραμένει απόλυτα ξεκάθαρη στις προθέσεις της χωρίς χάσματα και ασάφειες.
Ο Ζιντ σ’αυτή τη σύντομη πνευματώδη αντιπαράθεση απόψεων για ένα ζήτημα όχι εύκολα θιγόμενο, υποχρεώνει τον αναγνώστη να διατηρήσει ανοιχτούς του ορίζοντες της σκέψης του, να διευρύνει τα όρια της κατανόησής του ως προς την ανθρώπινη φύση και τις “αδυναμίες” της, τον παροτρύνει να γίνει καλύτερος άνθρωπος ή έστω ακροατής ��αι ομιλητής και αφήνει την εντύπωση μιας άρτιας δημιουργίας, πέρα από κάποιες αστοχίες που εντοπίζονται με ακρίβεια στην έξοχη εισαγωγή του βιβλίου από τον μεταφραστή.
“Η ομοφυλοφιλία, όπως και η ετεροφυλοφιλία, έχει τους διεφθαρμένους, τους βιτσιόζους και τους αρρώστους της”.
“Δεν υπάρχει αμφιβολία ότι η φύση δεν είναι ομοιόμορφη. Η συνήθεια την κάνει έτσι, γιατί την εκβιάζει. Και μερικές φορές η φύση επικρατεί, και διατηρεί το ένστικτο του ανθρώπου παρ’όλες τις συνήθειες, καλές ή κακές".
Το Κορυντόν (Corydon, απ΄το κορυδών, όπως ο Αριστοτέλης αποκαλεί τον κορυδαλλό- υπαινικτική χρήση του ονόματος για του επαμφοτερίζοντες σεξουαλικά) θα μπορούσε να είναι μια μελέτη για τους ουρανιστές (ποιητική λέξη για τους παιδεραστές) ή ένας διάλογος ανάμεσα σε δύο φίλους που με σεβασμό ο ένας απέναντι στον άλλον και ακόμα μεγαλύτερο στην ίδια τη διαδικασία ενός πολιτισμένου διαλόγου, διεξάγουν τη συζήτησή τους κατά τη σωκρατική διαλεκτική, αναπροσαρμοσμένη φυσικά στις απαιτήσεις και ιδιαιτερότητες του εν λόγω διαλεγόμενου διδύμου. Το συγγραφικό εγχείρημα του Ζιντ, αναφορικά με την εποχή που γράφτηκε και γνωρίζοντας κάποια προσωπικά στοιχεία της πορείας του συγγραφέα, αποδίδει στην απόφαση της συγγραφής του βιβλίου του μια ποιότητα που, ενώ θα μπορούσε να το καταστήσει ευάλωτο στην κριτική, το καθιστά μια διαχρονική δημιουργία, μια πολύτιμη παρακαταθήκη για αξίες όπως ο σεβασμός, η αξιοπρέπεια, η αποδοχή και η αντικειμενικότητα ενισχύοντας με ουσία το περιεχόμενό του και θωρακίζοντας το νόημα της ίδιας της πρόθεσης του δημιουργού του.
Ο Ζιντ χρωματίζει αυτούς τους-μοναδικής εκφραστικής δεξιοτεχνίας- διαλόγους με λεπτή ειρωνεία την οποία καλλιεργεί στους ίδιους τους κόλπους της γλωσσικής τους απόδοσης ως αυτόνομο εκφραστικό μέσο, υποστηρίζοντας με την αισθητική του επινόηση, πέρα από τη γλωσσική και την μορφική διάταξη της αφήγησής του, παράλληλα με την ζωντάνια που ο διάλογος προσδίδει στα χαρακτηριστικά του κειμένου του. Η εξελικτική μεθοδικότητα και σαφήνεια της διήγησής του στέκεται με απόλυτη ειλικρίνεια απέναντι στις προκαταλήψεις, εξασφαλίζοντας την αντικειμενικότητα μέσω της διαλογικής παράθεσης των επιχειρημάτων των δύο συνομιλητών σε μια δυναμική παραβολή απόψεων ζώσας ενεργητικότητας. Το Κορυντόν είναι μια δημιουργία που χρησιμοποιεί τον υπαινιγμό συχνά στην απόδοση του λόγου για να πετύχει μια ποιητικοποίηση των επιστημονικών δεδομένων και μελετών που χρησιμοποιούνται ως στοιχεία πειθούς και των ορθολογικών επιχειρημάτων των δύο διαλεγομένων, κάποια εκ των οποίων θα σας κάνουν να προβληματιστείτε και κάποια άλλα να χαμογελάσετε με την ευφυέστατη τοποθέτησή τους ως τεκμήρια της εκάστοτε άποψης- ακόμα κι όταν διαφωνείτε- ενώ παραμένει απόλυτα ξεκάθαρη στις προθέσεις της χωρίς χάσματα και ασάφειες.
Ο Ζιντ σ’αυτή τη σύντομη πνευματώδη αντιπαράθεση απόψεων για ένα ζήτημα όχι εύκολα θιγόμενο, υποχρεώνει τον αναγνώστη να διατηρήσει ανοιχτούς του ορίζοντες της σκέψης του, να διευρύνει τα όρια της κατανόησής του ως προς την ανθρώπινη φύση και τις “αδυναμίες” της, τον παροτρύνει να γίνει καλύτερος άνθρωπος ή έστω ακροατής ��αι ομιλητής και αφήνει την εντύπωση μιας άρτιας δημιουργίας, πέρα από κάποιες αστοχίες που εντοπίζονται με ακρίβεια στην έξοχη εισαγωγή του βιβλίου από τον μεταφραστή.
June 27, 2024
A book that is likely just as scandalous today as it was in the 1920s, but perhaps for different reasons, written as a Socratic dialogue with a fictional straight interviewer and his gay acquaintance, Corydon – possibly intended to be two sides of Gide’s own psyche, but most certainly two sides of our “communal psyche,” so to speak. While Gide’s defense of homosexuality as natural, moral, and a positive force would be met today with nods of approval and obvious acceptance, his defense of pederasty … not so much!
He makes a clear distinction here, as he does in his journals, between “inverts” (effeminate gay men) and “pederasts” – be prepared for many such archaic terms, with the understanding that our own progressive lingo will be similarly out-dated in a century’s time – just as many different kinds of heterosexual proclivities exist across a spectrum, with his preference aligning with pederasty. Ironically, the blurbs for modern editions of this book in English entirely ignore this distinction, merely claiming that Gide is speaking of “homosexuality,” when in reality, especially in the First and Fourth Dialogues, he states quite plainly that he is discussing pederasty in particular – the “Greek love” in which an age gap between older man/pubescent boy is the essential and defining characteristic. I guess that distinction on the cover blurb wouldn’t sell many copies today!
Gide's arguments run the range from reasonable (homosexuality is neither a perversion nor unnatural) to novel (heterosexuality is socially constructed even more so than homosexuality), to iconoclastic (homosexuality is a societal positive because it acts as a counterbalance to the strong bent toward misogyny inherent in heterosexuality) to controversial (pederasty, the loving relationships between men and pubescent boys, would be better for the social order and ultimately for the young men in the long run than relationships with older women – here, Gide’s contemporary of the next generation, Raymond Radiguet, might agree). Gide draws from sources as varied as naturalists, biologists, philosophers, and artists. He explores “Uranism,” both confirmed and highly suspected, from the Greeks (Sophocles in particular) to Marlowe, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Montesquieu, Balzac, Whitman, Wilde, and Proust. As a straight guy, I found some of his perspectives on heteronormativity (to use a current buzzword) to be enlightening.
Well worth the read, if only because these discussions are just as challenging for readers to grapple with today. Gide would very well have trouble publishing parts of it in our era, outside of a vanity press or some free online version.
He makes a clear distinction here, as he does in his journals, between “inverts” (effeminate gay men) and “pederasts” – be prepared for many such archaic terms, with the understanding that our own progressive lingo will be similarly out-dated in a century’s time – just as many different kinds of heterosexual proclivities exist across a spectrum, with his preference aligning with pederasty. Ironically, the blurbs for modern editions of this book in English entirely ignore this distinction, merely claiming that Gide is speaking of “homosexuality,” when in reality, especially in the First and Fourth Dialogues, he states quite plainly that he is discussing pederasty in particular – the “Greek love” in which an age gap between older man/pubescent boy is the essential and defining characteristic. I guess that distinction on the cover blurb wouldn’t sell many copies today!
Gide's arguments run the range from reasonable (homosexuality is neither a perversion nor unnatural) to novel (heterosexuality is socially constructed even more so than homosexuality), to iconoclastic (homosexuality is a societal positive because it acts as a counterbalance to the strong bent toward misogyny inherent in heterosexuality) to controversial (pederasty, the loving relationships between men and pubescent boys, would be better for the social order and ultimately for the young men in the long run than relationships with older women – here, Gide’s contemporary of the next generation, Raymond Radiguet, might agree). Gide draws from sources as varied as naturalists, biologists, philosophers, and artists. He explores “Uranism,” both confirmed and highly suspected, from the Greeks (Sophocles in particular) to Marlowe, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Montesquieu, Balzac, Whitman, Wilde, and Proust. As a straight guy, I found some of his perspectives on heteronormativity (to use a current buzzword) to be enlightening.
Well worth the read, if only because these discussions are just as challenging for readers to grapple with today. Gide would very well have trouble publishing parts of it in our era, outside of a vanity press or some free online version.
September 19, 2022
Credo che, più che con altri libri, occorra giudicare Corydon attingendo ad una buona dose d’indulgenza.
Penso che si debba considerare attentamente il contesto storico nel quale Gide scrisse questo testo, non applicando il punto di vista di chi ha il privilegio di vivere in un’epoca in cui i diritti civili hanno fatto passi da gigante.
Se si fanno queste premesse e si legge Corydon ci si accorge che esso è, in realtà, un testo estremamente coraggioso, pieno di una lungimiranza non banale.
D’altra parte se si tenta di considerare Gide come omosessuale immerso in una cultura omofoba, maschilista e misogina appare commovente il suo tentativo -che a me è parso, nelle sue movenze talvolta goffe, come il dimenarsi di un animale pur di schivare le fauci del proprio predatore- di legittimarsi.
Le acrobazie di Gide-preda sfociano in quella che oggi sarebbe certamente considerata omofobia e altrettanto certamente in quella che sarebbe considerata misoginia (ed è stato molto buffo constatare come, nel testo, Corydon dica di vivere anzi in un’epoca tanto benevola, a differenza di altre davvero misogine).
Quest’uomo, nonostante tutti i pregiudizi, tutti i preconcetti e le teorie bislacche, ha tentato di dimostrare l’innocenza dell’essere omosessuali ed ha intrapreso, per farlo, un percorso quanto più scientificamente rigoroso possibile (anche qui, più che di “scienza” direi che ci si trova davanti alla “filosofia naturale”, così affascinante e così -mi si passi il termine- superata).
Egli ricerca delle ragioni fisiologiche che giustifichino il comportamento altrimenti ingiustificabile, non solo! si prefigge il compito di dimostrare un suo valore intrinseco, quasi fosse un nuovo Platone con un nuovo Simposio.
Ovviamente i suoi paragoni in positivo sono con la paideia (anche in questo caso “rivista e corretta” da una lettura figlia del proprio tempo), con quella mitizzazione dell’antica Grecia che sempre ha fornito un nobile appiglio agli omosessuali di ogni epoca.
Il piacere che ho provato nel leggere questo testo, comunque molto serio e molto complesso, è quello che potrei provare nel leggere un antico bestiario dove si descrivono unicorni, grifoni e sirene, e dove magari spuntano anche, con grande sorpresa, informazioni sugli armadilli tanto esatte da lasciare sbalorditi. Qualcosa di vero, quindi, c’è.
“Grazie Gide”, occorre dire, “grazie per il tuo coraggio”.
Questa edizione in mio possesso -Edizioni Clandestine- vale veramente poco: è piena di refusi e di errori, con note talvolta eccessive, talvolta mancanti là dove necessarie.
Almeno, però, questo testo è stato ristampato: erano anni che volevo leggerlo e non riuscivo a trovarlo.
Penso che si debba considerare attentamente il contesto storico nel quale Gide scrisse questo testo, non applicando il punto di vista di chi ha il privilegio di vivere in un’epoca in cui i diritti civili hanno fatto passi da gigante.
Se si fanno queste premesse e si legge Corydon ci si accorge che esso è, in realtà, un testo estremamente coraggioso, pieno di una lungimiranza non banale.
D’altra parte se si tenta di considerare Gide come omosessuale immerso in una cultura omofoba, maschilista e misogina appare commovente il suo tentativo -che a me è parso, nelle sue movenze talvolta goffe, come il dimenarsi di un animale pur di schivare le fauci del proprio predatore- di legittimarsi.
Le acrobazie di Gide-preda sfociano in quella che oggi sarebbe certamente considerata omofobia e altrettanto certamente in quella che sarebbe considerata misoginia (ed è stato molto buffo constatare come, nel testo, Corydon dica di vivere anzi in un’epoca tanto benevola, a differenza di altre davvero misogine).
Quest’uomo, nonostante tutti i pregiudizi, tutti i preconcetti e le teorie bislacche, ha tentato di dimostrare l’innocenza dell’essere omosessuali ed ha intrapreso, per farlo, un percorso quanto più scientificamente rigoroso possibile (anche qui, più che di “scienza” direi che ci si trova davanti alla “filosofia naturale”, così affascinante e così -mi si passi il termine- superata).
Egli ricerca delle ragioni fisiologiche che giustifichino il comportamento altrimenti ingiustificabile, non solo! si prefigge il compito di dimostrare un suo valore intrinseco, quasi fosse un nuovo Platone con un nuovo Simposio.
Ovviamente i suoi paragoni in positivo sono con la paideia (anche in questo caso “rivista e corretta” da una lettura figlia del proprio tempo), con quella mitizzazione dell’antica Grecia che sempre ha fornito un nobile appiglio agli omosessuali di ogni epoca.
Il piacere che ho provato nel leggere questo testo, comunque molto serio e molto complesso, è quello che potrei provare nel leggere un antico bestiario dove si descrivono unicorni, grifoni e sirene, e dove magari spuntano anche, con grande sorpresa, informazioni sugli armadilli tanto esatte da lasciare sbalorditi. Qualcosa di vero, quindi, c’è.
“Grazie Gide”, occorre dire, “grazie per il tuo coraggio”.
Questa edizione in mio possesso -Edizioni Clandestine- vale veramente poco: è piena di refusi e di errori, con note talvolta eccessive, talvolta mancanti là dove necessarie.
Almeno, però, questo testo è stato ristampato: erano anni che volevo leggerlo e non riuscivo a trovarlo.
October 21, 2022
Um livro interessante mais pelo documento histórico que acaba por ser, ao permitir-nos vislumbrar como se perspetivava a homossexualidade - ou melhor, a pederastia (que não são exatamente a mesma coisa e essa confusão ao longo do livro incomodou-me até ao fim) - no início do século XX e não tanto por conter uma argumentação muito válida nos dias de hoje. Tê-lo-á sido mais na sua época, possivelmente. O que foi, seguramente, foi um livro muito corajoso, por abordar a temática do amor homossexual sem ser para o denegrir, numa época em que os humores aconselhavam maior "discrição".
O livro é um ensaio filosófico organizado sob a forma de quatro diálogos entre o titular Córidon e um seu amigo, ao longo dos quais aquele tenta demonstrar a este que as relações entre homens são vistas como prejudiciais à sociedade e contranatura apenas por construção cultural e social. Socorre-se, para isso, de uma análise do mundo natural, que, confesso, me pareceu algo enfadonha, e, aqui já mais interessante, de uma análise da história da sociedade, com particular enfoque nas sociedades gregas da Antiguidade.
Chega-se, dessa forma, a apresentar algumas ideias que são absolutamente revolucionárias, como a de que a homossexualidade teria um papel social a desempenhar no bom funcionamento da comunidade, numa conceção que, parece-me, a tentar ser construtiva, consegue ser ofensiva para homens e mulheres ao mesmo tempo.
Não obstante estas ressalvas, não é mal empregado o tempo despendido a ler esta obra e a conhecer um pouco do pensamento da sua época. Sem dúvida, um documento da história LGBT.
O livro é um ensaio filosófico organizado sob a forma de quatro diálogos entre o titular Córidon e um seu amigo, ao longo dos quais aquele tenta demonstrar a este que as relações entre homens são vistas como prejudiciais à sociedade e contranatura apenas por construção cultural e social. Socorre-se, para isso, de uma análise do mundo natural, que, confesso, me pareceu algo enfadonha, e, aqui já mais interessante, de uma análise da história da sociedade, com particular enfoque nas sociedades gregas da Antiguidade.
Chega-se, dessa forma, a apresentar algumas ideias que são absolutamente revolucionárias, como a de que a homossexualidade teria um papel social a desempenhar no bom funcionamento da comunidade, numa conceção que, parece-me, a tentar ser construtiva, consegue ser ofensiva para homens e mulheres ao mesmo tempo.
Não obstante estas ressalvas, não é mal empregado o tempo despendido a ler esta obra e a conhecer um pouco do pensamento da sua época. Sem dúvida, um documento da história LGBT.
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