Synopses & Reviews
The Queer Afterlife of Vaslav Nijinsky is three books in one: an impressionistic account of the dancer's homoerotic career, an analysis of his gay male reception, and an exploration of the limitations of that analysis. The impressionistic account, based on the aestheticism of Walter Pater, focuses on significant gestures that Nijinsky made in key roles, including the Golden Slave, the Specter of the Rose, Narcissus, Petrouchka, and the Faun. Many of these gestures are captured in the book's 21 photographs and drawings of Nijinsky dancing. The analysis of his gay reception, based on the semiotics of Roland Barthes, is deconstructive, and the exploration of the limitations of such an analysis moves beyond Barthesian semiotics and, in doing so, beyond the author's work in his previous books.
Synopsis
The Queer Afterlife of Vaslav Nijinsky offers an impressionistic account of the dancer's homoerotic career, an analysis of his gay male reception, and an exploration of the limitations of that analysis.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-224).
Table of Contents
Photographs and drawings; Inscription; Acis et Galatée; Le Roi Candaule; Le Pavillon d'Armide; L'Oiseau d'or; Danse caucasienne; Les Sylphides; Cléopatre; Carnaval; Schéhérazade; L'Oiseau de feu; Giselle; Danse siamoise; Le spectre de la rose; Narcisse; Petrouchka; Le lac des cygnes; Le Dieu bleu; L]apres midi d'un faune; Daphnis et Chloé; Jeux.