French and Francophone Studies at Vassar College

Monday, October 5 at 5:00 pm in Rockefeller Hall, Room 200, Vassar College

"Gays in the Military: Combat Companions and Soldier Lovers in France."

Long before contemporary debates on "Gays in the Military " and "Don't Ask Don't Tell, " soldiers looked to one another for emotional and physical intimacy, comfort, and support. From the battlefields of antiquity to the emergence of military modernity, one can trace a long history of combat companions, stretching from Homer and the Trojan War, to Walt Whitman and the Civil War, to Wilfred Owen and World War I. From Charlemagne to Charles de Gaulle, the French historical record is also rich in tales of military camaraderie, from the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815), to the Franco-Prussian (1870) and First World Wars (1914-18). Published in 1892, Émile Zola's celebrated war novel, "The Debacle," is an intimate account of two soldiers-Jean and Maurice- who survive the brutality of the Franco-Prussian War in each other's care, and thus create a bridge between ancient representations of military homoeroticism and the emergence of modern gay identity in the trenches of the First World War.

Generously sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty. Co-sponsored by the Departments of French and Francophone Studies, and Film, and International Studies and Women's Studies Programs.