Camp Grounds: Style and Homosexuality

The concept of camp has never been easy to define. Derived from the French verb
camper
(to pose) it has been variously interpreted as a style that favours exaggeration, an ironic attitude toward the cultural mainstream and a form of aestheticism that celebrates artifice over beauty. At the same time, camp has been long associated with homosexual culture, or at least with a self-conscious eroticism that questions traditional gender constructions. The 16 essays on camp included in this book explore the relationship between style and homosexuality, showing how camp has made its way into every aspect of our cultural lives: theatre, popular music, opera, film, and literature. Beginning with an overview of what camp is, where it came from and how it operates, the chapters address topics ranging from the
high camp
of Whitman and Proust to the
low camp
of drag-queen culture and gay fanzines. Together they carry forward a conversation that began more than 25 years ago, before Stonewall and AIDS, when Susan Sontag published her memorable
Notes on Camp .