review: rising star: dandyism, gender, and performance in the fin de siècle by rhonda k. garelick
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7/29/2019 Review: Rising Star: Dandyism, Gender, and Performance in the Fin de Siècle by Rhonda K. Garelick
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Rising Star: Dandyism, Gender, and Performance in the Fin de Siècle by Rhonda K. GarelickReview by: Thaïs E. MorganVictorian Studies, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Summer, 1999 - Summer, 2000), pp. 711-712Published by: Indiana University Press
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7/29/2019 Review: Rising Star: Dandyism, Gender, and Performance in the Fin de Siècle by Rhonda K. Garelick
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/review-rising-star-dandyism-gender-and-performance-in-the-fin-de-siecle 2/3
711
Rising tar:Dandyism,Gender, nd Performancen theFinde Siecle,byRhondaK.Gare-
lick;pp. vi+ 226. Princeton,NJ: rincetonUniversityress,1998,$32.50,?23.95.
"[T]he encounterbetweenthedecadentdandyand the femaleperformer" uringthe
1880s and 1890sprovides hecrucible n whichthemodern "media star" s formed, r-
guesRhondaK.GarelicknRisingtar:Dandyism,ender,ndPerformance3). Female stars
ofpopularentertainmentnvadethetraditionally aledomain ofthedandy,whosearis-
tocratic ura is challengedbythe new mass culture. [T]he classicdandyistonfusion f
realitynd literature"16) isthefocus fChapterOne, "The Treatises fDandyism."ng-lishmanBeau Brummell epresentsheur-dandyn Honore de Balzac's Traitedea Vie e-
gante[Treatise n ElegantLiving] (1830). "By using a historicalfigureas a fictional
character," alzac "appropriatedBrummell's elebrity s an integralpartof the text,"
writesGarelick 16). Thisblurring fgenericboundariesbythewriter arallels he criss-
crossing fgenders nactedbythedandyhimself.
Garelickfinds a precursor f [. . .] camp" in theblend of extra- nd inter-
textualityultivatedy heFrench ideofthis radition16). Barbey 'Aurevilly'suDandy-
isme t de George rummellOn Dandyismnd George rummell]1843) celebrates"theessentialEnglishness f dandyism"whilemaking t servereactionary renchpoliticalends (20). In Le Peintre e a VieModerneThePainter fModern ife] 1863), thepainterConstantinGuys nd thewriter harlesBaudelaire reinvent andyismsmodernity.he
Baudelaireiandandy s a master freality-effectsI'effetertel) nd celebrateswomen as
thesymbolsf cosmeticmystique.Likedandies,[the]carefullyoign6ewomen"ofmid-
nineteenth-centuryarisare "artists ftheself;but unlikedandies,theyultimatelye-
pend [...] upon an exterior male] creator" 36).
In ChapterTwo,"Mallarmne:rowds, erformance,nd theFashionableWom-
an,"Garelick howshow even thishermeticwriter espondsto thepresenceof female
stars fthemusichalland theatre nhisprose poem, "LePhenomeneFutur"'The Coming
Phenomenon"] (1864). A stupefied rowdgathers o watch aWomanofyore" n a met-
aphoricdystopia 49). Like thedandy, he is a wholly rtificialreation,with yes"like
preciousgems" 49). Mallarme ppropriates hepopularfemaleperformerorhisavant-
gardist esthetics: er dentitymeltsnto"that fthewritten ext 54).
Mallarmemovestoward moderncamp" in La Derniere ode TheLatest ash-
ion] (1874), where he impersonates a series ofcommodified ersonalities" fParisian
women 45,62). Writings awomandoesnot makeMallarme feminist,owever. s "thedandybecomeshe female pectacle,"he reasserts maletechnical ontrol" vertheficti-
tious nd thereal womenof fashionnhistext s well asover"the mpliedfemalereader"
(64, 67). Moreopenlymisogynistic,Jeanorrainrepresentshe chicwoman s "aghostly
doll,"worth no more than ...] [the]artificialuxurytems" hewears n UneFemmepar
JourDaytimeWoman]1890).LEve FutureTheFutureEve]1885) byVilliers e l'Isle-Adamturn[s] hestory
ofthe dandyand theperformingwoman nto a science-fictionale" (78). In Chapter
Three,"Robotic leasures, ance, andtheMediaPersonality,"arelick ursues he mer-
gence of "a camp aesthetic" rom he confrontation etween"decadentdandyism nd
mass culture" as transacted hroughthe femalebody (80, 81). Thomas Edison, the
"techno-dandy"arexcellence,uilds a female ndroidnamedHalady (78). She is meant
to be "pure spectacle'"and a "perfectimulacrum,"ypassingheproblematicgency f
SUMMER 1999/2000
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7/29/2019 Review: Rising Star: Dandyism, Gender, and Performance in the Fin de Siècle by Rhonda K. Garelick
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/review-rising-star-dandyism-gender-and-performance-in-the-fin-de-siecle 3/3
712
actualwomensuch as EvelynHabal, thedancer afterwhomHalady's ook is modeled
(89). Ironically,Halady presages "the eventualdismantling f the male dandy":she
usurps heattention reviouslyavishedbythedandyon himself,nd she isa productof
"thevery n-dandyistealmofpopular,mechanizedentertainment"84, 86).In ChapterFour,"Electric alome: The Mechanical Dances of Loie Fuller,"
Garelick onsiders his amous emaleperformer'slaborate tagingnd "genius ormass
marketing"s "proto-camp"101, 125). Dubbed "lafe ldctricite""theelectricityairy"),Fullerused voluminous ostumes,olored ighting,mirrors,ndsculpted abricso"tech-
nologiz[e]" herbody (102): 'Just s thedandy's ttraction as based on his mpeccableorchestrationf dress ndmanner, ullerdepended uponherflawlessontrol fappara-tuses" 101). Fullerexceeded thedandyist otion of Woman: no longer mediatrix,he
female dancer-wizard ecame the "modern media celebrity"101). Garelick cknowl-
edgesFuller'scomplicity ith he colonialist rench genda of"cultural ppropriation"
through er orientalist erformancest the 1900 World'sFair (118). But Garelickdisa-
greeswith he nterpretationfFuller as a willingcon of ArtNouveau's "aesthetic vac-
uation offemalebodiliness"119). Rejecting healignment f thefemininewith 'home'
and traditional emaleskills," ullersought ndependence byidentifyingerselfwith"technology, assproduction, nd theworkplace"122).
OscarWildecompletes hetransition rom andyismocamp n Salome1892).
FollowingRegeniaGagnier's dylls f heMarketplace1986), Garelick nderstands his ext
in relationto itsauthor's"public personalitys dandyand gayman" in ChapterFive,
"CampSalome: OscarWilde's Circles fDesire" 144). Salome is"aversion fWilde,who,in camp fashion, nfuse[s]his dramatic haracterwith n extrascenicdentityhatex-
ceeds thefictional oundariesofher character"144-45). Applying eneGirard's heoryofcommunalmimetic risis,Garelick xamines hewaysn which theostensiblyiscrete
realmsofspectacle nd audience,gazerand gazed upon, mergethrough heexpressionof llicit esire" n theplay 137).
Garelick'sworkhas somelimitations,owever. he too often esorts osuper-ficial tylisticescription: Salomesa carefully esigned,melodictext," an intricate ap-
estry"129, 139). She engagesneither ecentworkon theperformance fgender (for
example,Judith utler's)nor analyses f Wilde'srepresentationfsame-sex esire for
example,RichardDellamora's).The Afterwordo Rising tar sprovocative. arelick ocates "themale-dandy-
starpersonality"n the rockmusicperformer rince,the criticWayneKoestenbaum'stribute oJackie0., and thetwo eaders of deconstructionnAmericaduring he1970s
and 1980s,Jacques errida and Paul de Man (167). Prince'spersona"borrows...] from
[.. .] Beau Brummell,Baudelaire,andJeanLorrain" 155). The charismatic e Man
"staged grand,dandyist,cientificpectacle"whichrecallsVilliers's dison (166). Gare-
lick'sremarksboutfemale cademiccelebrities, ho"put hemselvesmuchmoreovertly
onstage n theirwork" han theirmale counterparts,uggest fascinatingine offuture
inquiry 168). Whatexactly istinguishesemale-addressed rommale-addressed amp
performance?What re thestrategic ifferencesetween actuallyemale"ncontrast o
"feminized"malepostmodern andies (154)?THAIS E. MORGAN
Arizona tateUniversity
VICTORIAN STUDIES
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