Toward a Gay Criticism

Abstract

IN HIS PREFACE TO The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde wrote that All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. For a very long time, no one dared to go beneath the surface and read the symbols of artists and works of art when doing so might discover homosexuality. But the liberation of homosexuals has changed that. Many of us are now willing and even impatient to brave such perils, to extend the liberation of ourselves to the liberation of literature and criticism, and to prove that gay criticism can make a unique, valuable, and timely contribution to our understanding of literature. We are encouraged, moreover, by the success of our efforts. Each day the signs of an evolving gay criticism grow more numerous and impressive: many Gay Liberation Fronts and free universities offer courses and workshops in gay studies and some of the more traditional social and educational institutions are following suit; the Gay Academic Union has a special committee devoted