When body is rhythm and sex is the protagonist: homoeroticism in The Platonic Blow, by W. H. Auden

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47295/mgren.v13i2.1344

Keywords:

Sex, Body, Homoeroticism, Auden, The Platonic Blow

Abstract

This essay aims to analyze homoeroticism in The Platonic Blow, by W. H. Auden, considering the sexual encounter between the speaker and Bud.  The Platonic Blow is a narrative poem composed of thirty-four quatrains, depicting and describing the sexual activity engaged by the speaker and an unknown man called Bud. The sexual act, then, presumes a fusion between those two men. In becoming one, they are no longer two distinct persons. Based on Paz’s (1996; 1973) and Bataille’s (1986) studies on erotism, the essay also includes contributions from Lacan’s (2020a; 2020b; 2005) thoughts on the phallus and Frappier-Mazur’s (1993) essay surrounding the obscene word in pornographic French literature from the eighteenth century.

Author Biography

João Pimentel Santos Santana Coelho, Universidade Federal da Bahia

Undergraduating student in Letras Vernáculas with English Language at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA).

References

AUDEN, W. H. The Platonic Blow. In: LEHMAN, David (org). The Best Erotic American Poems: from 1800 to the Present. New York: Scribner Poetry, 2008.

BATAILLE, Georges. Erotism: death and sensuality. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1986.

CARPENTER, Humphrey. Poetry. In: CARPENTER, Humphrey. W. H. Auden: A biography. London: Faber and Faber, 2011.

FROTAIN, Raymond-Jean. Hiding in Plain Sight: W. H. Auden in Popular Gay Culture. ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, [s. l]: n. 2, v. 26, p. 63-70, 2013. Available in: https://doi.org/10.1080/0895769X.2013.775042. Accessed on 02 July 2023.

FRAPPIER-MAZUR, Lucienne. Truth and obscene word in eighteenth-century French pornography. In: HUNT, Lynn (Org.). The invention of pornography: obscenity and origins of modernity, 1500-1800. New York: Zone Books, 1993.

LACAN, Jacques. The signification of the phallus. In: LACAN, Jacques. Écrits: a selection. London; New York: Taylor & Francis, 2005.

LACAN, Jacques. The object relation. In: LACAN, Jacques. The seminar of Jacques Lacan, book IV. Cambridge; Medford: Polity Press, 2020a.

LACAN, Jacques. The function of the veil. In: LACAN, Jacques. The seminar of Jacques Lacan, book IV. Cambridge; Medford: Polity Press, 2020b.

PAZ, Octavio. The double fame: love and eroticism. London: The Harvill Press, 1996.

PAZ, Octavio. The bow and the lyre. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1973

RODRIGUES, Marcus Vinicius. Café Molotov. Rio de Janeiro: 7Letras, 2018.

RABINOVICH, Diana. Lectura de “La significación del falo”. Buenos Aires: Manantial, 1995.

Published

2024-09-03

Issue

Section

Artigos - Estudos Literários