Claude Cahun's Double
Author(s): Carolyn J. Dean
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Yale French Studies, No. 90, Same Sex/Different Text? Gay and Lesbian Writing in
French (1996), pp. 71-92
Published by: Yale University Press
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CAROLYNJ.DEAN
Claude Cahun'sDouble
Look at themoon!How strangethemoonseems!She is like a
womanrisingfroma tomb.She is like a deadwoman.You would
fancyshe was lookingfordeadthings.
-Oscar Wilde,Salom6
Les personnagesqui 6voluentdans ce cortegede mortsimaginaires
ne sontpas precisement
des fant6mes.
Plus exactementce sontdes
apparencesdontonpeut,cependant,calculerle poids et qui
n'6chappent
pointa la sensualitedes mains.
-Pierre Mac Orlan,prefaceto Claude Cahun,Aveuxnon avenus
Claude Cahun'sparticularartistry
consistedin thestagingofherown
death.Herinsistencethatdeathrepresents
mobilityratherthanstasis,
andthat"life"as suchis neverreducibleto "biography"
(thetidinessof
documentedresearch)manifests
itselfinhertextsandphothoroughly
are
tomontages.Her subjects (mostlyherselfand self-surrogates)
mortsimaginaires,opaque and inaccessible.Theyare alwayspeeling
offtheirskin,onlyto findtheirheartsstillbeatingandimaginingthey
aresingular(uncomplicated,
immobile),onlytofindtheyareinfinitely
mutable.In thisessay,I arguethathomosexuality
thestagrepresents
ingofthesubject'smobilityin Cahun'swork-especiallyin herwritI historicizehomosexuality
tentexts-and further,
in orderto suggest
thatits productionbothlegitimatedand challengedany immobile,
transcendental
conceptof"Art."
None ofthecriticalstudieson Cahun-a marginalwriter-photographerwhose lesbianismhas been well-established-hasfocusedon
and its complicatedfunctionin herwork.Most ofthe
homosexuality
workon Cahun (1889-1954)has been done byarthistoriansand has
focusedon herphotomontages,
veryfewofwhichwerepublishedin
herlifetime.Feministarthistoriansframetheiranalysesin termsof
recent(oftenpsychoanalytically
grounded)debates about the conin womenartists'work.FranqoisLestructionoffemalesubjectivity
links Cahun's writingand photographs
perlier'srecentbiography
to
YFS 90, Same Sex/Different
Text?ed. Mahuzier,McPherson,
Porter,
Sarkonak,
? 1996byYale University.
71
72
Yale FrenchStudies
symbolismand surrealism(she was Marcel Schwob's niece, and
changedhernamefromLucie Schwobto Claude Cahun-an androgynous firstname).'Althoughcertainly
inspiredbysurrealist
appropriaFrenchavant-garde
tions and critiquesof late nineteenth-century
themes,Cahun challengesthesurrealistleaderAndreBreton'slatent
Cartesianismand subvertsthenormativeheterosexuality
implicitin
surrealisttextsand images.2She was an artistwho shied awayfrom
in surrealist
directinvolvement
activities,exceptforshort-lived
political engagements.3
Perhapsbecauseofthismarginality,
she was notincludedin Whitney Chadwick'srecentbook on WomenArtistsand the Surrealist
Movement;andin their1985exhibitioncatalogueofsurrealist
photoDawn Ades,and RosalindKrauss,forwantof
graphy,
JaneLivingston,
information,
speculatedthatshe mayhave died in a concentration
camp.4In fact,Cahun was imprisonedby the GestapoforResistance
1. See FrangoisLeperlier,
Claude Cahun: lecart et la metamorphose
(Paris:Jean
Cahun'slife.He has amasseda remarkMichelPlace,1992)forall thedetailsregarding
able amountof information,
usinga wide varietyof unpublishedsources.Leperlier
establishesthat she had a life-longpartner,SuzanneMalherbe(pseudonymMarcel
on all herphotomontages.
Moore)withwhomshe collaborated
See also HonorLasalle
and Abigail Solomon-Godeau,"SurrealistConfession:Claude Cahun's Photomontages,"AfterImage
19 (March1992):10-13. Fortwoexcellentarticlesin thenowvolusee:
minousworkdevotedto movingbeyond"gaze" theoryin its initialformulation
ElisabethLyon,"UnspeakableImages,UnspeakableBodies," Camera Obscura 24
"The Reflexive
andthePossessiveView:Thoughts
(1992):169-93;andCarolArmstrong,
1989):57-70.
onKertesz,
Brandt,
andthePhotographic
Nude,"Representations
25 (Winter
did not
2. Cahun preferred
photomontage,
whereasmostsurrealistphotography
photography
employmontage.RosalindKrausshas persuasively
arguedthatsurrealist
underminesCartesianperspectivism
throughits use of "doubling"and "spacing"(a
thestrategy
ofdoubling).
See RosalindKrauss,"The
effected
temporaldeferral
through
in The Originalityof theAvant-Gardeand
ConditionsofSurrealism,"
Photographic
OtherModernistMyths(Cambridge:MIT Press,1987),especially109; and "Corpus
Delicti,"October33 (Summer1985):31-72. Itis notmyintentionto enterthisdiscussion, whichis betterleftto arthistorians.In my discussionof Cahun's use of the
concerned
withgenderandsexualityas categoriesofanalysis,
"double,"I am explicitly
andwithhow Cahun'shomosexuality
helpeddefineherwork.
3. See ClaudeCahun'soneexplicitly
"political"essay,Lesparissontouverts(Paris:
JoseCorti,1934).There,she repudiatesLouisAragon'sdefenseofsocialistrealismand
Shewasalso engagedfora shorttimeinthe
insiststhatartis intrinsically
antidogmatic.
formed
politicalactiongroupContre-attaque,
byGeorgesBatailleandAndr6Bretonto
fightfascismin 1935.
4. Whitney
Movement(Boston:Little
Chadwick,WomenArtistsand theSurrealist
Dawn Ades,L'AmourFou:Photography
Brown,1985);RosalindKrauss,JaneLivingston,
and Surrealism(New York:AbbevillePress,1985),205. See also LaurieJ.Monahan's
Textezur
reviewofLeperlier'sbiography,
"Claude Cahun'sRadicalTransformation,"
Kunst3 (September
1993): 100-09. Monahannotesthatmostoftherecentworkand
CAROLYN
J. DEAN
73
activitiesduringtheGermanoccupationoftheIsle ofJersey,
Cahun's
residencebeforeand afterheryearsin Paris.She liveduntilroughlya
decade afterthe war endedwithher companionand collaboratorof
overthirty
years,SuzanneMalherbe.
The fewanalysesofCahun'sworkthatdo existhavelittlein common excepta tendencyto transform
lesbianisminto a rigididentity
category.
Theyall conceiveCahun'ssame-sexdesireas irrelevant,
even
contrary,
to her intellectualproject.Abigail Solomon-Godeauand
HonorLaSalle claimin a footnotethat,in keepingwithCahun'sspirit
to hergenderor sexuality),
(herbook makesno directreferences
they
do notwantto reduceherto a fixedgenderorsexualidentity(LaSalle
andSolomon-Godeau,13).Theyneverrefer
toherlesbianismexceptin
frombiogthecontextofa warningaboutthedangersofextrapolating
raphy(fromstableidentitycategories)to theartist'swork.Theirposttoa putatively
structuralist
refusaltostabilizethesubjectbyreference
stablebiography
(theirrefusalto considerhersolelyfromthepointof
in keepingwiththeartist's
viewof"woman"or"lesbian")is certainly
owninsistencethatidentitiesareneverstatic.Althoughtheyfocuson
herdisruptionofnormativegenderroles,however,
theyinadvertently
In otherwords,
assignherlesbianismthestatusofa "fixed"identity.
whileforsomeinexplicatheyanalyzehergenderas a siteofmobility,
ble reason,theymakeherlesbianismthesubjectofa warningagainst
thetheoreticalconsequencesofimmobilizing
identity-indeedofimmobileidentityitself(13).5
haveexcludedCahunandthatinthe1978
cataloguesconcerning
womenandsurrealism
exhibitionDada and SurrealismReviewed(London,Tate Gallery),one of Cahun's
pieces,displayedin the 1936surrealist
exhibitionofobjects,was listedas havingbeen
madeby"Anonymous."
5. The authorsalso raiseeyebrows
whentheyputa setofquotationmarksaround
"lifepartner"
whenreferring
to SuzanneMalherbe(13n8).Aretheyreferring
tosomeone
the category?
Whentheyclaim,in a footnote,
that
else's wordsor are theyrefusing
to thestatus
"indicateshewas a lesbian,"theyrelegateherhomosexuality
biographers
ofbiography
andthereby
implythatherlesbianismis notgermanetotheiranalysis.But
withthe
why,thereadermustask,doesthefactthatCahunwas a womannotinterfere
taskofradicalculturalcriticism
ifthefactthatshewasa lesbiandoes,atleastimplicitly?
Anotherarthistorianrefusesto shyawayfromCahun'slesbianism,butdoesnotinter"A MutableMirror:Claude
pretitin thecontextofherwork.See ThereseLichtenstein,
8 (April1992):64-67.
Cahun," ArtForum
Thereis,ofcourse,a voluminousliterature
dealingwiththewayinwhichhomosexForrecentworkonlesbianidentiualitychallengesnormative
heterosexual
subjectivity.
Lesbian:FemaleHomosexuality
ties,see,amongothers,
Terry
Castle,TheApparitional
and ModernCulture(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversity
Press,1993);TeresaDe Lauretis,
The Practiceof Love: Lesbian Sexualityand PerverseDesire (Bloomington:
Indiana
74
Yale FrenchStudies
is thefirstandonly
In contrast,
whosebiography
FranqoisLeperlier,
majortextdevotedto Cahun,arguesthatherlesbianismis a formof
regressionand narcissism(19; 58-59). Althoughhe claims she was a
lesbian,he also assertsthatshe is betterconceivedas an androgyne
(i.e.,she rejectedall genderidentity)who would snubfeminists,
lesbians,and anyoneelse who soughtto "fix"heridentity.Thereis, of
course,a greatdeal oftensionbetweenthesetwopositions:shecannot
be narcissisticand regressiveand yet elude all identitycategories.
LeperlierexacerbatesthistensionbyimplicitlylinkingCahun's own
to "la relationimpossible"-heterocriticismofcenteredsubjectivity
to
her
lesbianism
autoeroticism.The entirebook is
sexuality-and
arounda homologybetweenthisimpossiblerelationand
structured
Cahun'sputative,unrequitedlove forthesurrealistAndreBreton,althoughLeperlierprovideslittleif any evidenceforthatpassion.He
frombiography
to textin order,
thusextrapolates(phantasmatically)
thesiteofepistemological
finally,
torenderheterosexuality
instability
(theimpossiblerelation)(137; 120).
herintoan
ofCahunas artist-heroine
transform
Suchresurrections
artistbyseparatinghergenderfromhersexuality,
bymakingherlesbiansexualitythesiteofthatwhichis notartbecausesame-sexdesire
is notmutableorunstableenough.This fantasyaboutthestabilityof
ofpurgingCahun'sworkof
has theeffect
homosexualdesire,however,
themobilitythesecriticsclaimdefineitsoriginality.
Thatis,bytaking
outofCahun'swork,theytransform
thehomosexuality
thatworkinto
thetranscendental,
idealizedarttheythemselvesrightly
presumeshe
same-sexdesireas intrinsically
destacriticized.Withoutrepresenting
bilizingand subversive,I would arguethatit is emblematicof the
aestheticsin Cahun's work.I firstaddress
critiqueoftranscendental
the questionofhomosexualityin termsofthe relationshipbetween
same-sexdesireand literaryproductionduringthe interwaryearsin
was theprivileged
France.Then,I wantto suggestthathomosexuality
fortheerosionofstable(boundaried,
signifier
coherent,
impermeable)
in Cahun'swork.In thiscontextI focuspriheterosexualsubjectivity
marilyon how Cahun's texts,in contrastto both elite and popular
differentiate
betweenmale
literatureconcernedwithhomosexuality,
andfemalesame-sexdesireandtheorizelesbianismas theprimary
site
ofresistanceto normativeheterosexuality.
DeviantReadings(NewYork:
University
Press,1994);andMandyMerck,Perversions:
Routledge,1993).
CAROLYN
J. DEAN
75
I. By the interwaryears,homosexuality
in Francecould no longerbe
confinedto a certainspecialgroupofhereditary
and recognizable-at
least to themedicalgaze-"inverts." Viewsofinversionwerealways
fraught
withtensionaboutwhetherit was congenitaloracquired.But
in spite of the apparenttriumphof the formerconclusionin early
twentieth-century
medical circles,popularanxietyabout its contagionincreased.Literarycriticscalled theinterwaryearsa transition
froma "literature
ofhomosexuals"toa "homosexualliterature";
in so
doing,theyreconceivedheretofore
decipherable,markedauthorial
identitiesas mobileones thatcompromisedtheboundariesbetween
the worksof homosexualand heterosexualwritersand so between
inferior
and canonicalliterature.6
The firsthomosexualFrenchrevue,Inversions,publishedin November1924,was seizedbythepolice,andreappeared
a monthlaterin
1925 underthe title of L'amitie. The firstissue of Inversionsproin
claimeditselfa journalnot "ofbutforhomosexuality,"
reinforcing
othertermsthe dissolutionof the boundarybetweenhomosexual
writersand "homosexualliterature."
It also defiantly
proclaimedthat
heterosexualsshouldtheoretically
be consideredas bizarreas homosexuals.7Cahun (alongwithHavelockEllis and others)contributed
a
responseto a "poll" conductedin the firstissue thatasked writers
The
(ratherironically)if and why theyfoundthe reviewoffensive.8
police finallyseized L'amitie, and condemnedthe editorsto six
monthsinprisonundertheantipornography
law (sincehomosexuality
was notillegal)for"propagandeanti-conceptionelle."9
in yetanotherpoll in Les margesand
Most ofthe commentators
devotedto the questionofhomosexualityin literature(inspired,no
doubt,by the publicationof Inversionsand of Andre Gide's undeclared
apologetictreatiseon male homosexualdesire,Corydon),10
6. Lesmarges,(March-April
1926).Reissuedin CahiersGai KitschCamp19(Paris,
1993):57.
7. Inversions1 (15 November1924):1.
8. Cahun,"Response,"L'amiti61 (April1925).
9. Willy,Le troisieme sexe (Paris:Paris-Edition,
1927),106.
10. An incompleteand "extremely
smallanonymous
limitededition"ofCorydon
was publishedin Brugesin 1911(C.R.D.N. [Bruges:The St CatherinePressLtdI,1911;
thenpublishedin a limitededitionoftwenty-one
copiesin 1920(Corydon,
anonymous),
nouvelle6dition[Bruges:L'Imprimerie
SainteCatherinel,
1920; anonymous),
and was
finallypublishedunderGide'snameandputon generalsale in 1924(Andr6Gide. Corydon.Nouvelleedition.[Paris:NRF 19241).See PatrickPollard,AndreGide: Homosexual Moralist(New Haven and London:Yale University
Press,1991),Chap. 1, "The
Chronology
ofCorydon,"and474.
76
Yale French Studies
theirrepugnanceforhomosexualpracticesand insistedthatliterary
celebritywas now dependentupon beinghomosexual.The resultsof
the poll inspiredColette'sfamousex-husbandWillyto claim thatif
wouldnothesitateto pose as
thatweretrue,mostoftherespondents
"inverts"(Willy,28-29). Willysoughtto profitfromtheapparentnotorietyofhomosexuality-itspresumedcontagionand infiltration
of
all ranks of society-with his own popularizationof sexological
viewsand a voyeuristic
accountof "homosexuallife"in Francemodeled afteranecdotalGermanand Frenchaccountsofgaylifein Berlin
and Pariswhich became popularat the end of the nineteenthcentury." Willy condemnedthe State's seizure of Inversionsbut also
echoed(andquoted)GeorgesAnquetil'salarmistassertionthat"sapphism and pederasty[now]displaythemselvesin public places and
...
penetrate austere and closely-guardeddwellings of yesteryear's
"'12
bourgeoisie.
Most literaryand othercommentatorswere primarilyworried
aboutitsprevalenceamongartists,forwhomhomosexuality
was conless as sexualpracticethanas an aesthetics.The
ceivedtraditionally
and the aestheticsofmoralruin
associationbetweenhomosexuality
has been well-documentedin both England and France. In some
nineteenth-century
avant-garde
movements,homosexualityconstitutedan aestheticizedoppositionto thedominantbourgeoisculture
andprogress
thatcelebrated(reproduction
andassociatedthecorrelation betweenwordand deed withvirtuousliving;forthisreason,as
one critichas noted,writersused lesbianismas a metaphorforDecadentwritingitself.13The presumednarcissismofhomosexualsexemplifiedthe sterility,
stasis,and artificeassociated,oftensubversively,
withhomosexualitysince the late nineteenthcenturyand well into
thetwentieth.
EvenColette,whoseoriginalversionofLe puret Vimpurwas publishedas Ces plaisirsin 1932,stillimplicitlyequatedJean
Lorrain'shomosexualitywith "masks,black masses,and happybe11. In fin-de-siecle
a scandalabouttheputativehomosexuality
Germany,
ofhighin theKaiser'sentourage
ranking
officers
becamethesubjectof
Affair")
(the"Eulenburg
a greatdeal ofsatirein bothGermanyand France.In France,authorssoughtto depict
homosexualityas a Germanvice, whereasGermanwritersalwaysspoke about its
Frenchorigins.Duringtheinterwar
years,whentheanxietyabouthomosexuality
increased,suchaccountsbecamemoreandmorenumerous.
12. GeorgesAnquetil,Satan conduitle bal (Paris:EditionsGeorgesAnquetil,
1925),25.
13. NicoleAlbert,"Lesbosetla decadence.Imagesdusapphismedansla litterature
d6cadente,"Diplomed'EtudesApprofondies,
Universit6
de ParisIV (1988).
CAROLYNJ.DEAN
77
headedwomen. .. [thelascivious,narcissistic,
necrophilicand sterile
Salome]."'4
Drawingon fin-de-siecle
stereotypes
and a well-established
association betweenperversion(e.g.,homosexuality)and the Decadent
artistsnow expressedanxietyabouttheirown tenliterarytradition,
dencyto treathomosexualityas something"romanesque,"linkedto
the sublime beautyof moral ruin.Homosexuality,
narcissisticand
sterile,existedonly"forits ownsake," thesame chargeculturalcononceleveledagainstavant-garde
servatives
art.InhisprefacetoWilly's
Le troisieme sexe, Louis Estevenoted that "in its blind pursuitof
is onlyan aestheticizedformofegotism"
sensualjoy,homosexuality
that threatensthe "judicious altruism"on which civilization is
based.15This metaphoricalsterilityimpliesa boundarylessselfthat
sees nothingbut its own reflection(henceits real "blindness").The
of
identificatory
logicofhomosexualdesireprecludestherecognition
a boundarybetweenselfand other,and so betweenfantasy(theegooftheother).Becausetheycan onlysee in
ideal)andreality(thealterity
of themselves,homosexualscannot
othersphantasmaticreflections
see thingsas theyare:in short,theylivein a dreamworldoftheirown
making.In culturalterms,homosexuality
violatesthemostbasicrules
ofthesocial contract-therecognition
ofthedistinctionbetweenself
and otherimplicitin the abilityto distinguishbetweenrealityand
fantasy.Homosexualsthuscannotpracticethe "judiciousaltruism"
thatguaranteesnationalharmony.
The surrealists'
later1928 "investigation"
intoquestionsconcerning sexualitywas one moremanifestation
ofthe interestin and the
threatposed by deviantsexualityin particularduringthisperiod.In
that investigation,publishedin La revolution surrealists, Andre
Bretoninfamously
pronouncedhis repugnanceformale homosexuality(theMarquisde Sade's sexualpracticesexcepted);male homosexualityreceiveda lukewarmifmoretolerantreceptionfromthe other
to so-calleddeviant
participants.16In spiteoftheirgeneralindifference
sexualpractices,thesurrealists
tobouropposedheterosexualfreedom
so thatliberatedsexualitymarkedfreedomfromthe
geoisrepression,
ofnatureimposedbythebourgeoisiein thename ofmoral
perversion
order.Bretondidnotuse sexualityto questionbourgeoismoralityand
14. Colette,Ces plaisirs(Paris:J.Ferenczi& Fils,1932),107.
15. In Willy,21.
16. See "Recherchessurla sexualit" (January
1928-August
1932),JosePierre,ed.
Archivesdu surrealisme
4 (1990),67-68.
78
Yale FrenchStudies
its oppositionsbetweengoodand bad,pureand impure.His problem
withbourgeoismorality
was thatitwas notmoralorpureenough,and
he counteredit withan idealized,liberated,naturalheterosexuality
purgedof the tainted,repressed,and hence compromisedbourgeois
ideal oflovethatproducedadultery,
andpresumably,
homotreachery,
sexuality.In otherswords,sexualrepression
producedperversion.
Bretonmerelyechoedtheideas ofmostinterwar
sexualliberationistsandsexologists(includingWilly,Louis Esteve,VictorMargueritte,
and others)whose tiradesagainstthebourgeoisiehad as theirtargets
ratherthanbourgeoisvalues.Breton'srepugnanceformale
hypocrisy
discomfort
withCahun and herlover(he
homosexuals,his purported
apparentlychangedcafesto avoid them)simplyconfirmthis assertion.'7I do notwantto reducesurrealismto homophobiaand belittle
the movement'sundeniablyradical accomplishments:my point is
ratherthatthe surrealists'antibourgeois
sentiments-at least in the
realmof genderand sexuality-sustainedthe dichotomiesbetween
andhomosexuality,
heterosexuality
pureandimpure,andfantasyand
realitytheysoughtin theoryto challenge.Purified,
magicalheterosexas the
uality(Bretontermedit Vlamour
replaced
homosexuality
fou)
siteofoppositionto bourgeoisculture.As GeorgesBataillenotedlong
ago,Bretonwas morebourgeoisthanthebourgeoisie,
readyto be cast
outfromhis ownclass in thenameofits (nowcompromised)
ideals.18
The surrealists,
includingBreton,didnotexpressthesame explicit
discomfort
with femalehomosexualityand oftendepictedwomen
loversas eroticobjects.Whereassurrealists
ignoredordisdainedmale
lesbianismserveda complicatedand sometimesparhomosexuality,
in the surrealistimaginallel functionto idealized heterosexuality
19
ary. In his prefaceto ValentinePenrose'sDons de feminines,a surre17. MarcelJean,Au galop dans le vent(Paris:Jean-Pierre
de Monza, 1991),27.
Jean'smemoirsforbeingless thangenerousto Breton
Leperliercriticizesthesurrealist
(he claimsJeanhad personalaccountsto settle).See Leperlier,
160n30.
18. GeorgesBataille,Oeuvrescompltes, vol. 2 (Paris:Gallimard,1970),51-109.
Feministcriticshavelongmadethesame charge.See Susan R. Suleiman,Subversive
Intent:Gender,Politics,and theAvant-Garde(Cambridge,
Massachusetts:Harvard
University
Press,1990).
19. The meaningoflesbiansexualityanditsrepresentation
in surrealist
workis a
complicatedone thathas receivedlittleattention.ChadwickarguesthatPenrose,a
womanartist,differs
fromErnstbecausethe"impliednarrative
builtoutoffreely
associatedimagesreplacestheFreudianmodeloferoticdisjunction,"
so thatwomensurrealist
artistsrefused
ofhumanform.
toviolatetheintegrity
Whatever
themeritsofthisclaim,
Penroseherselfbothdoes and does not divergedramatically
frommale surrealists,
at
leastto theextentthattheirworkexpressed
tensionbetweenpurifying
thehumanform
CAROLYNJ.DEAN
79
alist dreamnarrativeabout two lesbian lovers,Paul Eluardclaimed
thatthe womenmustperishby the veryforceof theirlove. In this
romanticnarrative,true love is inevitablybound up with selfannihilation;here,desiretranscendsbase corporeality
and takeson a
metaphysicaldimension.The Max Ernst-inspired
etchingsthatPenrosedrewto accompanythetextdepictan otherworldly
love signified
decors(see Figure1).WhitneyChadwickhas
byexoticand dream-like
arguedthatPenrose'sdrawingsrelyon thejuxtapositionofunrelated
imagesanddislocationsoftime,place,andscale to createa hallucinaoflesbianlovemarksthe
toryworld.This otherworldly
representation
andthuseliminatethesubversurrealists'
tendencytoidealize,purify,
sivenessof the putativelysubversivethingstheycelebrated.Unlike
Cahun's "hors natures,"ValentinePenrose'slesbian lovers go to
usedpurified
heaven.20In thisinstance,surrealists
lesbianloverather
thanheterosexuallove to opposebourgeoisculturalnorms.
II. I havespeculatedthusfarthattheconceptofa "homosexualliterature"obscuredthe boundarybetweenheterosexualand homosexual
writersand between"pure" and "impure"writingand became the
forthedrawingofnewboundaries.The
dialecticalpointofdeparture
of lesbian love to draw boundaries
surrealistsused representations
betweenpurityand impurityin termsthatbothinvertedand reinforcedthe hegemoniestheychallenged.In contrastevento her antibourgeoisavant-garde
contemporaries,
however,Cahun used lesbianismto marktheabsenceofclearboundariesbetweenpureandimpure
literature.
One ofherfirstessaysaddresseda 1918BritishtrialconcerningOscarWilde'splaySalome anditspresumedcapacityto transform
spectatorsinto homosexuals.When the trialrestagedthe play as a
" itproducedhomosexuality
as thedisplaced
dramaabout"inversion,
cause ofEngland'ssocial ills,includingthecollapseofnormativegenderrolesand thenation'semasculationat theendoftheGreatWar.
I analyze Cahun's reproduction
of the trial-she excerptedand
translatedspecificmoments-togetherwith a 1925 seriesshe publishedin Mercurede Franceentitled"Heroines."In hervignetteon
rather
andviolatingits integrity.
Feministcriticshaveoftennotedthatthesurrealists
traditionally
dividedlesbianlove into "love" (e.g.,Penrose)or sexuality(e.g.,erotic
drawings
andpaintings),
therefore
replicating
thebinarydivisionassociatedwithfemale
subjectivity
66; Chadwick,227).See also MaryAnnCaws, TheEyein the
(Armstrong,
Text(Princeton:
PrincetonUniversity
Press,1981),especially127.
20. ValentinePenrose,Dons de feminines (Paris:Le Pas Perdu,1951),np.
80
Yale FrenchStudies
1. ValentinePenrose,Claude Cahun'sBodyDouble. X3Bibliotheque
Nationalede France,Paris,France.
CAROLYN
J. DEAN
81
Salome in that series,she uses what I termthe "tropeof the body
double" to destabilizetheputativestabilitytheproductionofhomosexualityachieves.The "bodydouble" is a termused in cinema to
denotethe stand-inforthe real actor(or the real actor'sbodyparts)
whenhe orsheis eitherunavailableorpossessesinadequatebodyparts
forthe requiredrole. The tropeis especiallypertinentbecause both
invoketheatricality
and cinematic
Cahun'stextsand photomontages
illusionas theprivilegedvehicleofsubjectformation.
Moreover,Cahunuses thistrope-which itselfis a meansofreadingfemalehomoofsame-sex
sexualitymorespecifically-tobreakwiththefiguration
desireas eitheran aestheticizedoppositionto bourgeoisnormalcyora
symptomofbourgeoisrepression.
In the same issue of Mercurede France,the writerRachildedenouncedthetrialandimplicitly
reaffirmed
thelinkbetweenhomosexuality and aesthetics;a denunciationof homosexualitywas tantamountto a denunciationofart.21Cahun,whoseownarticlefollowed
insteadmobilizedthefantasyofan infinitely
immediately
after,
mutable bodyto questionthedichotomy
betweenhomosexuality
andbourgeois culture.Cahun's articlesuggeststhat the trial demonstrated
was no longera reliablemarkerof
paradoxicallythathomosexuality
thedistinctionbetweenrealityandfantasyorpurityandimpurity;
the
need to restageit in legal formin 1918 signifiedthe instabilityof
the "reality"and the "purity"homosexuality
putativelythreatened.
Moreover,to make hercase,Cahunmobilizedthefantasyofthebody
doubletoundermine
thedichotomy
betweenimpermeable
andpermeable (contagionfree,secure)bodiesin the same waythe fantasyof a
bodyof"homosexualliterature"
challengedthecontainedandmarked
ofhomosexual"bodies.22
"literature
The privateproductionofOscarWilde'splaySalome in Londonin
1918 became the pretextfora new public attackon homosexuality.
Maud Allan,chosentoplaySalome,suedPemberton
Billing,theeditor
ofthe rightwingjournalVigilante,fordefamationofcharacterafter
" as Cahun
Billingpublishedinthejournalan articlewhose"obscenity,
refusedtoprint;itis,
noted,"layin itstitle,whichEnglishnewspapers
21. Rachilde,"OscarWildeet lui," Mercurede France(1 July1918):59-68.
22. Leperlier
interprets
Cahun'sarticleas a defenseofartagainstcensureandas an
affirmation
offreeexpressionregardless
of circumstances
(35-36). This seemsto me
simplytoreplicatethethemesoftheFrenchinterwar
receptionofWilde.As forthetrial
toitin therecentandvoluminouswork
itself,I havebeenunabletolocateanyreference
on OscarWilde,perhapsbecausethetrialwas notaboutWildeperse butusedhimas a
symbol.
82
Yale FrenchStudies
themoralsofanypersonwhotakes
itseems,a medicaltermdescribing
The TimesofLondonputit more
partin or attendsperformances."23
in the Vigilante
directly:the defamationcase concerneda paragraph
that
the
said
Maud
Allan
was
a
andimmoral
lewd,
unchaste,
"meaning
ofan obsceneand
womanand was aboutto giveprivateperformances
indecentcharacter,
so designedas to fosterand encourageunnatural
practicesamongwomen,and the said Maud Allan associatedherself
Like Wildehimself,
withpersonsaddictedto unnaturalpractices."24
Allan lost thetrialamidstspectacularaccusations,all ofwhichwere
publishedin The TimesofLondonfrom30 May to 5 June1918.
Pemberton
Billingchoseto be his ownlawyerandfocusedon three
ofa particular
ortheperformance
issues:whetherthedesiretoperform
rolerevealssomethingabouttheactor'srealidentity;whetherOscar
Wilde's "perversion"meant that the play itselfwas perverted;and
All his
whethertheaudiencemightbe endangered
bytheperformance.
behind
queriesthusrevolvedaroundtheassumptionofhomosexuality
iftheplaywereperformed
thecurtainanditspresumedinfectiousness
barrier
(iftheprotective
werelifted).Thesethreelinesofinquirywere,
else: theexistenceof
meanttoprovesomething
however,
onlypretexts
Britishperverts
a listof47,000influential
a "blackbook" comprising
Billingcalled witnesseswho
identifiedby the Germangovernment.
claimedto have seen the book,butno one could producea copy.He
listed,acaccusedMaud Allan ofhavingassociatedwiththeperverts
cused thejudgepresidingat thetrialofbeingon thelist,and claimed
thatmost ofthe people who wentto see the privateperformance
of
Salome werenamedin thebook.
Cahun excerptedBilling'sexchangeswith Maud Allan and with
to Wilde'sperversion.
witnessestestifying
BillingaskedMaud Allan
whetheror not herbrotherhad been executedforthe murderoftwo
girlsin San Franciscoand whethertheyhad been rapedaftertheir
death.Allan qualifiedhis statementbut acknowledgedit to be true.
Whenaskedbythejudgeaboutthepurposeofsuch questions,Billing
to . .. are hereditary,
and . .. in some
respondedthatthe "vices referred
cases the victims give expressionat greatpersonal risk to their
vices.... " He suggestedthat"pantomimeis used bypeoplewholack
debasedto take the riskof the
courage,or who are not sufficiently
23. Cahun,"Le Salom6d'OscarWilde,Le procesBillinget les 47,000pervertis
du
'livrenoir,"'Mercurede France(1 July1918):69. I quote directly
fromThe Timesof
London,sinceCahuntookno poeticlicensein hertranslations.
24. The Times(30 May 1918):4.
CAROLYN
J. DEAN
83
actualpracticeofthecrimesin reallife,and I shallhaveto satisfythe
jurythatin thiscase thepassionforthehead ofJohntheBaptistis a
clearcase ofthispractice."25
Billingalso called expertwitnesses,includingLordAlfredDouglas, to attestto the factthathomosexuals
revealtheirperversion
bytheobliquenessoftheirlanguage,and that,
indeed,Salome expressedWilde'shomosexuality
in thismanner.26
In Cahun's versionof Salome, "Salome la sceptique,"Salome is
depictedas an actress,a stand-inforthe Biblicalfigure.Like Allan,
then,Salome is onlya doubleforthe real thing.ForBilling,Salome
standsin forWilde's "real" identity;in his view,Allan performing
Salomeperforms
Wilde,so thatAllan and Wildemustbothbe homosexual.CahuninvertsBilling'slogic:in herpiece,contrary
to Billing's
assertion,Salome'spresumedhomosexuality
is revealedbecause she
doesnotdesiretheheadofJohntheBaptist.On theonehand,Salome's
herroleas prescribed:
shewill danceforHerod,
bodydoubleperforms
she will kiss the head ofJohntheBaptistand,in so doing,leave the
fantasy(andthefantasyas fetish)ofSalomeas an unnatural,
seductive,
and castratingwomanintact.On the otherhand,Salome in Cahun's
totheverysoul"],absolutely
parodyis a "viergejusqu'al'ame" ["virgin
incapableofunderstanding
whyshe shouldkiss so repulsivea head,
anddancesforHerodinparttopersuadehimtoexplainwhathe thinks
about the artificialhead the directorsof the play want her to em-
brace.27
Here,thebodydoubleparadoxically
parodiesthefantasyit leaves
intact,protectsthelesbiandesireshe expresses-"IfI vibrateaccordingto othervibrationsthanyours,mustyouconcludethatmyfleshis
"lesbian" desire as
unfeeling?"("Heroines," 642)-by performing
othershaveconstructed
it.Salome'sdesireforJohn
theBaptist'sheadis
markedas a male fantasythatSalome'sstand-infindsrepulsive,inexnow"leave
plicable,andbloodless:artandlife,theworldofthetheater,
hercold" (643).Desperatetoleavebehindthehumdrumlifeforart,she
findsto heramazementthatthosemen (painters,
writers)who designatehera "heroine"onlycopylifeas theyimagineit. These men,she
25. Cahun,"Le Salom6d'OscarWilde,"70-71; The Times(30 May 1918):4.
26. Cahun,"Le Salomed'OscarWilde," 74-75; TheTimes(31May 1918):4. Billing
also arguedincoherently
but weaker
that"healthy"peoplemightresisttemptation,
soulswouldbecome"infected."
Hencethefigure
ofthemoonin Wilde'splay,whichis a
forSalom6herself,
had"a badeffect
on sexualmania,"andmightmakesexual
metaphor
perverts
of"innocentpersons"(1 June1918):4.
27. Cahun, "Heroines,"Mercurede France(1 February
1925): 642. Translations
mine.
84
Yale FrenchStudies
claims,all thinkofthemselvesas "damned,parricides,incendiaries
. . . How theyintimidatethemselves!"(642; 641). Once again, the
actressis theextensionofsomeoneelse'sfantasy(sheis WildeimaginingSalome),whichshe performs
butwithoutunderstandknowingly
ing why it does not conformwith her own vibrations.Like Maud
Allan,who professedinnocencewhenaccusedofbeing"unnatural,"
Cahun's stand-inforSalome is also "innocent"evenas she performs
thepartofan unnaturalwoman.
Cahun'sreadingofthetrialalso implicitlydifferentiates
between
the "staging"of male and femalehomosexuality.
The trialrenders
OscarWilde'sidentityopaquebecausealwaysstagedor"puton": Billingtriedto show,withhisallusionstoWilde'sloveofperformance
and
indirection,
thathomosexuality
revealsitself,paradoxically,
through
its opacity.Billing'sinabilityto producethe "blackbook" in thetrial
may then be easily read as a metaphorforthe productionof male
To theextentthatBilling
homosexuality
as an indecipherable
identity.
couldnotproveorproducetheverythinghe claimedwas self-evident
oftheentireEnglishelite),he gothimselfintothe
(thehomosexuality
bindEveKosofsky
Sedgwickhas definedas peculiartohomosexuality:
itis "minoritizing"
(specifictoa definedsubsetofmarkedindividuals)
and "universalizing"(a tendencypotentiallyin all individuals-at
is at once decipherableand
least sinceFreud).28
Thus,homosexuality
to
since
is
impossible decipher,
everyone potentially
gay.Ifeveryone
is
potentiallyhomosexual,the questionat stake in the trial-who is
to
reallygay?-cannotbe answeredexcepttautologically
byreference
Butit is preciselythiscircularity,
everyone's
potentialhomosexuality.
thatproducesand subtendsa
homosexuality'semptysignification,
paranoidculturalfantasyaboutthespecterofcontagioushomosexuality:Billingwas acquittedbecause the black book became an empty
signifieronto which anxietiesabout the instabilityof social order
couldbe projected.The absentblackbookservedin theendtostabilize
andyet
normative
heterosexuality
bystandinginforan indecipherable
omnipresentthreatagainstwhich righteousand moralmen had to
mobilizepoliticaland social energies.
Butas Cahunsuggests,thetrialrendersMaud Allan'sidentitydoubly opaque. To the extentthat her perversionis coextensivewith
because herlesbianism
Wilde's,it is not merelyan emptysignifier;
28. Eve KosofskySedgwick,Epistemology
of the Closet (Berkeley:
of
University
CaliforniaPress,1990),90.
CAROLYN
J. DEAN
85
it remains
existsdeprivedofanyreferent
exceptmale homosexuality,
outsideofsignification.
Moreover,
althoughCahun codes Salomeas a
lesbian(perhapsin retrospective
reference
to thetrial),lesbianismand
femalesexualityaretreatedthroughout
"Heroines"as equallyunnaturalorother.All oftheheroinesin Cahun'sseriesreplicatethetropeof
the bodydouble: all of thesefigures,mostlybiblical,some literary,
roleswhose meaningtheydo not understand,
perform
are complicit
withbutdistantfrom,or,in "Sappho's"case,turnto theirownadvantraditionalculturalnartage.These heroinesplayrolesthatreinforce
rativesaboutnaturalandunnaturalwomen,narratives
thatmustconstantlybe reenacted.They must,like the trial,eternallyreproduce
figures(thehomosexual,the sinfulwoman)thatjustifywitchhunts
and warswhose purposeis not to discoveror defeatenemiesbut to
renderthe culturalfantasyof normativeheterosexuality
natural.
Hencethe"toocredulousEve," fooledbythemanipulationsofmodern
allows men to displacetheirown impotenceontoher
consumerism,
butfools
"originalsin"; "HelentheRebel"is infactquiteunattractive,
herselfandeveryone
else intothinking
sheis as beautifulas thelegend
redeemerofherpeople,goes throughthe motionsof
claims; Judith,
beheadingHolophernesonlyto commentcynicallythat"thejoyofthe
crowshas a thousandmouthsand no ears,"replicatingCahun's own
sarcasmabouttheenthusiasticandvocalacclamationBillingreceived
whenthejuryannouncedhisacquittal.Marguerite
(afterGoethe)wonderswhethersheis a monsterandis certainshehas notbeensensitive
enoughto the "eternalmasculine" ("Heroines,"622-24; 631-32;
627-30; 637).And thesearebuta fewofthemanyheroinesdepicted.
Cahun reservesthemostdramaticroleofall forSappho.IfSalome
and
how thetropeofthebodydoubleimplicitlyreinforces
represents
fabricatesherown
protects"other"desires,Sapphoself-consciously
bodydouble in orderto be leftin peace. When Phaon becomes too
oflesbianelegance,
domineering
("He wantstogiveSappho,thearbiter
his departure
lessonsin styleandbehavior!"),sheorchestrates
andhas
her"daughter"-a youngsmittengirlwhowilldoherbidding-pusha
mannequinofSapphooffthecliffat Leucade:
Allthepeople,amassedonthebeach,sawmeabove,immense
andyet
Notsostupid!
Itwasonlya model...
small,attheedgeofthefatalcliff.
thatCleis,hidden,
pushedintothevioletsea (it'seasytobefooledby
inmybark,
lowandtuning
themovies).
Whileoutatsea,sitting
singing
women.["Heroines,"
my lyre. . . I attractpassers-byand preferably
636]
86
Yale FrenchStudies
Sappho's stagingof her own death thus leaves the mythabout her
heterosexuality
intact(shecommitssuicidefora man)and allowsher
to continue,unseen and unheard,to seduce womenwayfarers.
Sappho'ssilence,likeCahun'sabsent"lesbianism,"doesnotrepresent
her
refusalto namesame-sexdesire,buthercomplicatedinsistenceon its
expression.
ForCahun,Sappho's"passing"is not,as Colettesaw it,an unfortunate sortofdestinyin whichone laborsto hide one's trueidentity.29
Rather,passingis embeddedin theparadoxofthebodydouble,which
to theextentthatit appears
suggeststhatidentityis alwayssubverted
theloss ofreferentiality
intact.In otherwords,lesbianismrepresents
in the guise of an identitycategoryembodiedeithermetaphorically
(thestand-in)ormetonymically
(thefetish).Cahunrepresents
lesbian
desireas the undoingratherthan the fashioningor productionof
identity.
III. Cahun'sonlyextendedwork,Aveuxnon avenus(DisavowedConfessions),is a seriesof nine chaptersillustratedby nine photomonnarratoremploysconventional
tages.30In this text,the first-person
in orderto challengethe model of selftropesof autobiography
actualizationthe genrepresumed.Organizedaroundmomentsthat
punctuatethe life-cycle,the book targetsin particulara standard
Freudianparadigmof sexual developmentby mockingcastrationas
ofnormativeheterosexuality.
thedeterminant
In one vignette,Cahun identifieswithOedipus,"condemnedbeforebirth,"and condemnedforan unspeakablecrime:"How poorly
but sexuallysociable
made the worldmust be, if a nonconforming
in crimeas ifin a convent,
notonly
creatureis compelledtoseekrefuge
to live,butalso to createnewvalues!Butwhatcrime?. .. an impasse"
(Aveuxnon avenus, 167-68; ellipsisin text).This metaphoricequationofcrimeandconventsuggeststhatsexualnonconformity
andthe
in
the
refusalofsexualityimplicit
religiousvowsshe evokes,are the
but
same thing.Celibacymaybe a formof "sexual nonconformity,"
Cahun's"convent"raisesthespecteroflesbiandesirethatwriters
well
beforeDiderotassociatedwithMotherSuperiorsandtheirunderlings.
amountsoddlyto an articulationof
The refusalofsexualitytherefore
lesbiandesirein termsthatsimultaneously
eraseit.("Butwhatcrime?
29. Colette,Le pur et 1'impur(Paris:Hachette,1971),168-69. This is certainly
Colette'simplication.
1930).
30. Cahun,Aveuxnon avenus(Paris:Editionsdu Carrefour,
CAROLYN
...
J. DEAN
87
an impasse.") When Cahun invokes Oedipus in this allusion to
lesbian(or "nonconforming")
desire,she deprivesthe Oedipal narrativeofits conventionalheterosexualtrajectory.
Forin herversion,the
tale tellsmanypossiblestories.
Solomon-Godeau,Lasalle,and to a lesserextentThereseLichtenstein, have rightlyinterpretedCahun's challenge to determinate
meaning(as it manifestsitselfin herphotomontages
ratherthanthe
text)as a challengeto stable,singularsubjectivity.
Forthem,theimmarks"precisely...
passetowhichCahun'sworkcontinually
returns
that point where surrealismintersectswith the notion of the
'unspeakable'-both in the Lacanian sense as thatwhich language
cannotname,andthusthatwhichcannotbe represented,
as well as in
the sense of the womanas taboo-[and thatit is at thatpoint]that
Cahun's confession,as a specificallyfeminineexpressionof subjectivity,can be read" (Solomon-Godeauand Lasalle, 13). Lichtenstein
puts the case in similar terms: "Embedded in [Cahun's] art . .. is a
nonsensical... uncannyreturnoftherepressed,
ofthatmomentexistingparadoxicallybeforethesymbolic"(67).In a somewhatquestionable extrapolation,
however,
thesecriticsall further
linkthispresymbolicandhenceunspeakablesubjectivity
to thepre-Oedipalmaternal
in theseventhchapterofAveux
body,and readCahun's "nightmare"
non avenusin theseterms.The nightmare
is aboutcastration,
andthe
photomontage
accompanying
thetextrefersalso to the"thematicsof
castration"(see Figure2). It includesimagesfromthe nightmare-a
severedhead,scissors,a bird'sbeak-as well as an imageofbirththat
is "layeredwith allusions to castrationfear"because Freudargued
that(in fantasy)the babyreplacedthe mother'slackingpenis.Thus,
Cahun "orchestrates
symbolsoffemalepowerwithmale anxieties"
(Solomon-Godeauand Lasalle, 13).
AlthoughCahun's photomontagecertainlydoes play upon the
difficult
to readtheimageas
"thematicsofcastration,"it is extremely
a simplephantasmaticrepudiationof castration.Rather,the image
andembraceofcastrationthrough
implies-asimultaneousrepudiation
the tropeofthe bodydouble.In so doing,thephotomontage
and the
text,whicharemeanttobe readtogether,
replicatetheFreudianscript
aboutthe originsofgenderand sexualityand marktheabsenceofits
naturalreferents.
The epigraphoftheseventhchapterand thenightin
marethatopensitrefer,
onceagain,to theSalomeCahunfabricated
1925. The epigraphnotesthatSalome dancesforHerodbecause she
hopes he will help her "retraceher steps, to weave togetherher
courtesyGalerie
2. FromClaude Cahun'sAveuxnon avenus.Reproduced
Zabriskie,Paris,France.
CAROLYN
J. DEAN
89
dreams"-the same hope Salome'sstand-inclungto beforeherdisapIn Cahun'snightmare
shelookswithcuriosityat a severed
pointment.
head thatshe presumesto be her father's.Aftera briefmomentof
desire,she runsaway,claimingto have "renounced[her]conquest"as
well as herdestiny(as a woman?as a lesbian?it does notmattersince
thepointis thatherdestinyis meaninglessexceptas a script)(Aveux
non avenus,155).Like Salome,she realizedthat"Herod"cannothelp
hersustainherdreams;he cannothelpherbecomean artistbecausehe
is one oftheauthorsofthescenarioin whichshe mustdesirethehead
of Johnthe Baptist(in the nightmarish
versionof the vignette,of
head
the
father
is
the
from
which
she
flees).In otherwords,the
course,
of Oedipus'
nightmare
weaves Salome's storyinto Freud'sreworking
tale,a scriptCahun/Salomeparodiesandrepudiatesas sheperforms
it.
In thenextpartofthedream,in whichsheparodiesthe"thematics
ofcastration,"shegoestotaxidermists
andcutsoffbirds'beaks"at the
roots."She describesthissymboliccastrationas an act of "bravery"
and "genius." Cahun is a camped-upSalome,the castratingwoman
testifiesto her courageand intellectual
whose expertbeak-shearing
prowess.In anotherscenariofromthesame dream,an objectfallsout
ofnowhere:at firstsheis "frozen"with"horror"(liketheboywitnessinghis mother'scastration)andfinallyrelievedwhenshe realizesthe
objectshe is holding("bya bit ofwarmand viscousflesh")is onlya
woodenpanther.(Aveuxaux nonavenus,157).31 The woodenpanther,
besides beingdepictedas a rathersillyfetishobject,is usually the
symbolof a cunningfemaleand hence the site of the anxietyit is
themontageposes theprobsupposedto relieve.Like thenightmare,
lem ofinfinitesubstitution(ofman forwoman,thefetish-the severedhead-for thefather,
SalomeforCahun thedreamer).
not
Throughthetropeofthebodydouble,Cahunuses substitution
simplyto troubleor transgress
binarydistinctionsbetweengenders,
butto deprivethosedistinctions(andhencetherelationshipbetween
evenas she (againparodically)
leaves
genderandsexuality)ofa referent
themintact.In the image,she employsthe bodydoubleto fetishize
herself.The parodypermitsherto remainhappilyand benignlycastrated,to "be" thephallusin orderto escapetheeconomyofmeaning
organizedaroundthephallus.Afterall,the"birthimage"is theimage
of Cahun herselfas the Medusa and hence as the phallus.It is the
"
31. This allusionto beingfrozenwithhorror
evokesthe"man"frozenand "stiff
in SigmundFreud's"Medusa'sHead," in Sexualityand thePsychology
withterror
of
Love (NewYork:MacMillan,1963),212.
90
Yale FrenchStudies
reverseddoubleofCahun'sface,shornofhair,whichappearstwicein
headlessimage
theupperpartofthemontage.Similarlythefetishized,
headlessimage
justbelowthe"real"Cahun'shead,likethefetishized,
to (protect
ofVenusdeMilo,functions
metonymically
and)reassureus
jokinglythatCahunis notcastrated.Shelooksbackat theviewermore
annoyedthandefiant,as ifto ask what all thishas to do withherthe same question that stumpsall the heroinesshe has similarly
fabricated.
Solomon-Godeauand Lasalle notethat"IfCahun'sphotomontage
impliesthereareonlymasks,andthusno authenticselfbeneaththem,
and removethemimplies.. . the possiherattemptbothto portray
bilityofself-presence"
(Solomon-Godeauand LaSalle, 13).32This assertionstill begs the questionofhow herportrayaland removalof
I havearguedthatCahun'sself-presence
masksdenotesself-presence.
anterior
orposterior
to,the
is continuouswith,ratherthantemporally
the
double.33
is
Self-presence
might
Symbolic-it
Symbolic'sparodic
bestbe understoodas an uncannyparodyofthe"uncanny"in Freud's
sense ofthe term.Freudassociatedtheuncannywiththe "doubling,
of the self,"with "the recurrenceof an
dividing,and interchanging
intoanxiety"andhence
andtransformed
emotionalimpulserepressed
with the confusionof selfand other,presentand past,familiarand
animateandinanimateso centraltoCahun'ssubversion
ofthe
strange,
and
aestheticsFreudhimselfequatedwiththe "beautiful,attractive,
linksthedoublingandrecurrence
associsublime."34Freud,however,
ofcastration:femalegenitals
atedwiththeuncannyto therepression
areat once ouroriginal"home" and something"we" fear.In Cahun's
workthetropeofdoublingalso expressedtheuncanny"returnofthe
selfas embodiedby the "undistorted
and
32. Oddly,theyconceiveheremerging
makesverylittlesense
unmarked"faceat thebottomoftheimage.This interpretation
the
in relationto thetext,whichclearlycodestheheadas JohntheBaptist's.Moreover,
dismemberedhead (which the authorsperhapsrightlyassume describesCahun's
withherownimage)is againa parodicimageratherthana "monstrous"one
struggle
hand
becauseit is thedoubleofthe(doubled)musicianswho appearin theupper-right
comer.
subjectivity
33. Inhisrecentsummary
andcriticism
oftheideaofa "pre-Symbolic"
I havequotedhere,MartinJay
alludedtobythearthistorians
pointsoutthatthisnotion
does notaccordwiththeLacanianmodelofidentityformation
theyinvoke,sinceall
is contingent
ontheSymbolic.MartinJay,
DowncastEyes:TheDenigration
subjectivity
FrenchThought(Berkeley:University
of California
of Visionin Twentieth-Century
madethispointalreadyin TheAcousticMirror:
TheFemale
Press,1993).Kaja Silverman
and Cinema(Bloomington:
IndianaUniversity
Press,1988).
Voicein Psychoanalysis
34. SigmundFreud,"The Uncanny,"StandardEdition,vol. 17 (London:Hogarth
Press,1955):234; 241; 219.
CAROLYN
J. DEAN
91
repressed"-thedoublingofSalome,ofSappho,and ofCahun herself
offamiliarunfamiliarity,
a "memmanifests
thedisturbing
recurrence
Buttheuncannyhereis notthe
ory"at oncetangibleandyetforgotten.
returnofrepressedcastrationanxiety;instead,it is thereturnofthe
repressionofthefactthatcastrationanxietyis a culturalmyth.As in
thetextandthephotomontage,
themythoffemalecastrationis a joke
thatis not all thateasy to laughat because doublingrenderscastration's status as culturalmythambiguous.Cahun's testimonyto
"Freud'sglory"at theendofheraccountofthenightmare
epitomizes
thisambiguity:it is a deadpanparodyas well as a realtribute(Aveux
non avenus, 157).
The possibilityofself-presence
is best embodiedby the uncanny
effect
ofCahun's "obscene"eyes-I use thewordas Cahun meantit,
to denotean idea so blasphemous"God" entrustsit only to angels
(Aveuxnon avenus,158).Confessionsofsome secretrealitybeneath
appearances-stableidentitycategories-areonlyeverparanoidculturalfantasies(homosexualityand genderincluded)perpetrated
by
thoseindividualswho cannotbeardesire'smobility,
who cannotbear
notknowingwho theyreallyare.The epigraph
thatprecedesthechapteron "sex" uses homosexuality
to expresstheimpossibility
ofknowing: "You don'treallythinkyou are moreofa pederastthanI am?"
(Aveuxnonavenus,43).The lesbianwhois moreofa malehomosexual
than a male homosexualis simultaneouslya manlywoman (in the
anda womanly(thewomculturaltermsI assumeCahunis parodying)
anliest)man. Again,genderinversionin thiscontext(she poses as a
thetransgression
ofnormamalehomosexual)doesnotsimplysignify
tivegenderroles,butmarkstheundoingofanystablebinarydistinctionbetweengendersor betweengenderand sexuality,
and hencethe
undecidability-themobility-of all identity.It is thus because female homosexuality
ofthemobileimis theprivileged
manifestation
mobilitythatconstitutesnormative,genderedsubjectivityas a lost
and yetindispensablereferent
thatCahunnevernameslesbiandesire
in herbook.Lesbianismcan onlybe markedthroughthebodydouble
-the paradoxicalseriesof substitutionsthatrenders(all) women's
desirecommensurate
and yetincommensurate
withestablishedsystemsofmeaningand hencetangiblebutindecipherable.
This representation
ofdesireis no giddyrepudiationofepistemobutan ironic,cynno celebrationofunknowability,
logicalcertainties,
insistencethatresponsible
like
ical,andnever-complacent
knowledge,
its
even
when
it
can
ever
refuse
own
continart, only
stability
appears
92
Yale FrenchStudies
uous witha stablecanon.Althoughthisinsightmaynow be predictable,I havespeculatedthatitdeveloped-at leastin Cahun'swork-as
part of a more generalhistoricalshiftin which homosexualityno
longersignifieda distortedreality,but,rather,distortionas a permanentdimensionofall social relations,a shiftin whichhomosexuality
symbolizedthe social body'sreal permeability.
Moreover,her work
breaksdecisivelybothwiththeliterary
tradition
thatlinkedhomosexthat
ualitywitha static,oppositional"art"and withtheavant-garde
(sometimes)implicitlylinkedit withtheopposition.Cahun suggests
and femalehomosexuality
in particular,
insteadthathomosexuality,
on whichall
underminesthedichotomybetweenpurityandimpurity
aestheticproductionis foundedand judged.WiththebenefitofhindsightderivedfromOscarWilde'stragichubris,Cahunworkedtodefine
lesbianismas thesite ofa doubledistortion
preciselyto demonstrate
thesimultaneousdangerand necessityoftheartist's"self-presence."
Thus, Cahun stagedherown deathas a meansofstayingalive.Every
bodyhas a double.