Draft Conference Paper - Inter

From Masturbation to Self: Sexuality, Performativity and
Identity in Saint-Pavin’s Poetry
Brigitte Stepanov
Abstract
One may easily conjure up the name Théophile de Viau when thinking of erotic
French poetry from the seventeenth century. This paper, however, examines two
poems on masturbation and homoeroticism by the somewhat lesser-known Denis
Sanguin de Saint-Pavin. Where Saint-Pavin‟s first text praises masturbation, as
well as the self-pleasure and self-love that the act provides, the second – driven by
a moralizing, possibly ironic force – emphatically condemns the act. The first part
of this paper constitutes a comprehensive reading of the poems with the aid of
online references, including editions of the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française.1
I then compare the linguistically informed study of the poems to Michel Foucault‟s
theories on homosexuality. I argue that Saint-Pavin‟s texts – and specifically the
first poem – unexpectedly resonate with Foucault‟s notion of the emergence of the
homosexual in the nineteenth century.2 Thus, by initially focusing on a specific
poetic narrative on masturbation via Saint-Pavin, I address larger, borderless
questions structuring social thought on homosexuality, gender, and love.
Key Words: Saint-Pavin, Foucault, masturbation, sodomy, self, character,
sexuality, gender, homoeroticism, homosexuality, religion, performativity,
theatricality, narrative, poetry, love, desire.
*****
The history of erotic, exceptionally homoerotic, poetry in the seventeenth
century in France is oftentimes a history of exile, condemnation, punishment.
Historical and religious considerations not apart, this presentation will closely
examine two of Denis Sanguin de Saint-Pavin‟s poems on masturbation and
homoerotic relations. I will seek to reconcile the different visions vis-à-vis
masturbation presented by the two texts, specifically by underlining the striking
subjectivity – not solely with respect to poetic rhetoric, but mostly by way of the
theatricality and the (sexual) performativity of the self – of the first. The efforts of
the investigation will culminate to a comparative analysis of the poems to Michel
Foucault‟s well-known passage in La volonté de savoir where he states that „the
homosexual of the 19th century became a character.‟3 By crossing boundaries of
time – all the while steering clear of anachronistic interpretations – I argue that
Saint-Pavin, dubbed the „King of Sodomy‟,4 already in the seventeenth century
could suggest notions of „character‟ through the representations of masturbation
and the self in his poetry.
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From Masturbation to Self
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I would like to begin by presenting a brief chronicle of the term „masturbation‟.
Georges Androutsos, a researcher in the history of medicine, provides an account
of the etymological evolution of „onanism‟ to „masturbation‟. „Onanism‟, as the
word suggests, is a term derived from the story of Onan. As stated in Genesis,
Onan, son of Judah and Er‟s brother, was tasked with impregnating Tamar, the
wife of the deceased Er, in accordance with levirate marriage. However, he did not
perform his duty, and, as the Scripture reads: „when he went in to his brother‟s
wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his
brother.‟5 Indeed, this is known as coitus interruptus, an act slightly different from
that of masturbation, but equally not resulting in an heir. 6
As Androutsos underlines, it is Montaigne who „indicates for the first time in
the French language the word “masturbation”.‟7 And yet, the term „masturbation‟
does not appear in any French language dictionary until 1835, as shows the sixth
edition of the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française (henceforth D.A.f.).8
Androutsos explains: „We find […] traces [of the word] in popular or metaphorical
terms in 17th century literature.‟9 Keeping these historical, linguistic, and stylistic
details in mind, let us now consider the first poem, numbered as the XXXVIth in
Nicholas Hammond‟s edition of Saint-Pavin‟s poetry.
1. Ma vie est plus réformée
Qu‟elle n‟était ci-devant,
2. Alidor est à l‟armée,
Et Philis dans un Couvent.
3. Ma main est la bien aimée
Qui me sert le plus souvent,
4. Le soir, ma porte fermée,
Seul, je m‟en joue en rêvant.
5. Ne crois pas que je me pâme
6. Au souvenir d‟une Dame,
Ou de quelque beau garçon;
7. À moi seul je m‟abandonne,
8. Et je conserve le nom
Que tout le monde me donne.
1. [My life is more reformed
Than it was formerly,
2. Alidor is in the army,
And Philis in a convent.
Brigitte Stepanov
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3. My hand is the beloved
That serves me most often,
4. In the evening, my door closed,
Alone, I play with myself whilst dreaming.
5. Do not think that I swoon
6. Over the recollection of a lady,
Or some handsome boy;
7. To myself alone I abandon myself,
8. And I conserve the name
That everyone gives me.]10
The term „reformed‟ (1) is defined by the D.A.f.‟s first edition in 1694 as the
„reinstatement of order.‟11 Consequently, the poem takes on a playful tone, since
the act that circumscribes the moral regularity of the narrator is also what is seen
by society – at the time of writing – as a highly immoral, criminal activity. Next,
reasons are given (2-3) as to why the hand of the narrator is his beloved. Moreover,
Alidor and Philis – a man and a woman – are in this poem put on an equal footing.
We see the same symmetry repeated in the first tercet (6).
The act that describes the narrator is solitary and private, discrete and done at
night. Furthermore, as already evoked, there is nothing in the poem that directly
names the act; „Alone, I play with myself whilst dreaming‟: 12 of course, one can
imagine to what this sentence makes reference. Once the act is mentioned, the
intentions of the poetic voice are additionally clarified in the volta of the sonnet
(5). Here, the tone of the poem changes. Though Alidor may be away fighting
battles and Philis living monastically, the narrator is careful to inform the reader
that his nocturnal activities are not the product of a weakness or a swooning over
his lost loves. On the contrary, he abandons himself to the pleasure of his self. It is
as though he waits for this encounter of self with self, at night, with no others, to
finally exhilarate, intoxicate, and love himself.
The volta is singular as it hints at a certain awareness of the individual as such.
Absent are the pragmatic speeches of the era informing individuals of the dangers
of masturbation, of how the act can even attack during sleep.13 It is precisely
neither this uncontrollable experience nor masturbation as a last resort that is
described here. Hence, the poem does not simply praise masturbation, but more
importantly commends an individual, a self, who is able to give himself pleasure.
Finally, the last two lines of verse (8) are the most enigmatic of the poem. The
word „conserve‟, as it is defined in the D.A.f. in 1694, means „to keep with care, to
guarantee, to maintain entirely, to prevent that something is lost, spoiled, taken
away.‟14 Considering this, and focusing on the „name‟ that the narrator mentions,
I would like to propose two ways of understanding the poem‟s conclusion.
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The first interpretation resides in the possibility that the name of the narrator is
divided into two: one „positive‟ name and one „negative‟ name. Invented
examples could include the Duke de… vs. the Prince of Fun; the Marquis de… vs.
the Disciple of Onan, etc. In this first interpretation, a noble rank or religious
appointment is the narrator‟s social name, his external, „positive‟ name.
Thus, by practicing masturbation privately, he is careful to make sure that
neither his acts nor his worthy „social‟ name are ruined. In other words, he
continues to hide his „negative‟, private name. On the contrary,
following a possible second interpretation, his socially accepted name is his
nickname. In this case, everyone is aware of his debauchery. By continuing to
practice his bad habit, the poetic voice maintains his „negative‟ name with care.
What is of note is that in both of these cases, the narrator assumes a theatrical,
performative, dimension with respect to his sexual interests. The focus he brings to
„the name that everyone gives [him]‟15 hints at his definition, even his construction,
by others. In the first interpretation that I propose, the narrator seeks to conceal his
private life with a dignified name or social mask. In the second case, his private
life is what defines his name and, largely, his identity. In this case, his vice is
socially expected and consequently he must conserve his nickname by performing
masturbation, by writing about it, and by playing his predictable, even predicted,
role. Nonetheless, though he may be constructed by the individuals surrounding
him, he also very much claims the name to himself. Moreover, the poetic voice‟s
preoccupation with his name reveals his awareness of this social construction. In
summary, then, there are three dimensions to the poem: the narrator‟s interest and
loving investment in masturbation, the construction of a near „character‟ by society
and, lastly, the narrator‟s awareness of his name, perhaps even of his identity.
Certainly, the form of the poem alone, which relies heavily on the use of „I‟,
already suggests a praise of subjectivity. But in addition to this rhetorical feature,
the substance of the poem itself, as already highlighted, extols a lyrical quality.
How does one then reconcile the first poem with the second, a text presenting a
strong opposition, a near hatred, of masturbation?
Before proceeding to the second poem, however, I would like to underline that
my distinctions of a „first‟ and „second‟ text are artificial and solely identified in
Michel Jeanneret‟s La muse lascive, a compilation of salacious French poetry from
1560 to 1660.16 In this text, the two poems analysed here are found side by side,
thereby creating additional ambiguity with respect to Saint-Pavin‟s views on
masturbation. As Hammond underlines:
As no edition of Saint-Pavin‟s poetry was published in his
lifetime, it is impossible to follow the order that the poet would
have wanted. Furthermore, the absence of precise dates for the
composition of his verse excludes any attempt to order it
chronologically.17
Brigitte Stepanov
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Though there may be no way of knowing the actual proximity of the two poems
in the manuscript, it remains that the disparity between the texts only serves to
enrich their interpretation. Let us then consider the second poem (LIX).
1. Pour ne point foutre de putain,
2. En crois-tu, pour cela, tes passe-temps sans crime?
3. Bougre, tu te fous de ta main,
4. Ce plaisir est-il légitime?
5. Si celui qui forma le plus grand des Romains,
Pour tout con n‟eût eu que ses mains,
Vois de quel héros admirable
6. Il aurait privé l‟univers;
Songe que la nature, en ses plaisirs pervers,
Te crie incessamment, arrête, misérable,
7. Ah! c‟est un homme que tu perds!
1. [So as not to screw a whore,
2. Do you think, for this reason, your pastimes without crime?
3. Bastard, you screw yourself with your hand,
4. Is this pleasure legitimate?
5. If he who had formed the greatest of Romans,
For all vagina had nothing but his hands,
See of what admirable hero
6. He would have deprived the universe;
Know that nature, with its perverse pleasures,
Incessantly cries to you, stop, wretch,
7. Oh! It is a man that you are losing!]18
I argue that indeed the two poems are wholly different. Certainly, the second
seems to contradict the first insofar as it condemns the act of masturbation.
Throughout the following analysis, I will be supporting that the second text,
however, does not denounce the pleasure of the self or the autoeroticism found in
the first poem.
What is initially striking is that the poems are formally different. While the first
is a sonnet, the second comes closer to free verse. There is also a lack of the
pronoun „I‟ in the second text; as well, the narrator assumes a moralizing voice.
Here the opinion of the Church is presented: masturbation as a sin that deprives
humanity of an individual (6-7). The text exhibits a denunciation of the act, the
pleasure (4), the pastime (2) praised in the first poem. In brief, masturbation is
presented as a crime in this text; nonetheless, the narrator notably takes no
subjective, performative, or autoerotic stance.
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The conceivable reasons for the radical differences between the two poems are
numerous. The protection of the author or irony, for instance, are but two
examples. As Hammond explains: „Saint-Pavin oftentimes remains sceptical with
regard to the Church‟s position vis-à-vis sensual love and never misses a chance to
be ironic about religious teachings.‟19 More importantly, Hammond classifies the
second poem as an „Epigra[m] in imitation of those of Martial‟s.‟20 As defined by
The Columbia Encyclopedia, for instance, an epigram is „a short, polished, pithy
saying, usually in verse, often with a satiric or paradoxical twist at the end.‟ 21 The
epigrammatic quality of the second poem affirms its satiric nature.
Ultimately, however, perhaps a reconciliation of the two poems is unnecessary,
as it is not quite the praise of masturbation that clashes with the condemnation of
the act in the texts. The pleasure of the self and the uninhibitedness of the narrator
in the first poem is in fact underlined by the ironic recitation of a religious speech
in the second. Building on the complimentary tensions between the two texts, I
would like to revisit the narrator‟s mention of Philis and Alidor in the first poem.
By naming both a woman and a man in the text, the poetic voice presents an
ambiguous perspective vis-à-vis homoeroticism. Though I have not explicitly
focused on homoeroticism in this paper, and have rather analysed the
representation of autoeroticism in the texts, the former concept is perhaps central to
understanding the poems. A link can be drawn between auto- and homoeroticism,
or masturbation and sodomy, by way of the legal consequences of these actions in
the seventeenth century. As Paula Bennett and Vernon Rosario write:
Theologians debated whether Onan‟s crime was masturbation or
coitus interruptus since Genesis is unclear on this point.
Nevertheless, they consistently condemned such voluntary
emissions along with fornication, adultery, mollites
(softness/effeminacy), sodomy, and bestiality – all classified as
forms of unlawful sex.22
Though sodomy, like masturbation, was deemed an illegal sexual activity at the
time, perhaps a way to link these two acts in a way that is precisely not judicial is
found within Foucault‟s work. In La volonté de savoir, Foucault states:
Sodomy – regarding ancient civil and canonical laws – was a
kind of forbidden act; and their perpetrator was but a legal
subject. The homosexual of the 19th century became a character
with a past, a history and childhood, a personality, a way of life;
a morphology as well, with a curious anatomy and perhaps a
mysterious physiology.23
Brigitte Stepanov
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This passage traces a trajectory from acts to identity, from the sodomite to the
homosexual, from the legal author of an act to an individual. Here, Foucault
identifies the creation of a character, of a figure. This fictions creation belonged,
according to him, to currents of thought in psychiatry and sexology at the end of
the nineteenth century. Of course, these domains remain anachronistic with respect
to Saint-Pavin‟s poetry; morphologies, anatomies, and physiologies are nowhere
identified in his texts. Nevertheless, this „everyone‟ mentioned in the first poem,
the social body that gives the poetic voice his name, makes him a character and
makes for him an identity that he claims as his own. Thus, the first poem, already
in the seventeenth century, seems to join the path of acts to identity, and displays a
burgeoning awareness of the self. In conclusion, then, perhaps it is via the concept
of masturbation, this other activity deemed illegal throughout the ages, that we can
reconsider the evolution of sodomy to homosexuality. Said differently, what light
does Saint-Pavin‟s writing on masturbation shed on Foucault‟s theories of
homosexuality?
Notes
1
University of Chicago: ARTFL Dictionnaires d’autrefois, viewed 29 June 2015,
http://artfl-project.uchicago.edu/node/17.
2
Michel Foucault, Histoire de la sexualité 1: La volonté de savoir (Paris:
Gallimard, 1976), 59.
3
„L'homosexuel du XIXe siècle est devenu un personnage.‟ Ibid. The translation is
my own.
4
„Roi de Sodome.‟ Nicholas Hammond, „Introduction: “Avec aisance je
compose/Tantôt en vers, tantôt en prose”‟, in Poésies, by Denis Sanguin de SaintPavin (Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2012), 23. The translation is my own.
5
Gn. 38:9
6
Georges Androutsos, „De l‟onanisme à la masturbation. Une note historique,‟
Andrologie 15.1 (2005): 71-79.
7
„trace alors pour la première fois dans la langue française le mot “masturbation”.‟
Ibid., 71. The translation is my own.
8
Ibid.; University of Chicago: ARTFL Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 6th
Edition
(1835),
s.v.
„Masturbation,‟
viewed
29
June
2015,
http://artflsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgibin/dicos/pubdico1look.pl?strippedhw=masturbation.
9
„On en trouve […] la trace en termes populaires ou métaphoriques dans la
littérature du 17e siècle.‟ Androutsos, „De l‟onanisme à la masturbation,‟ 71. The
translation is my own.
10
Denis Sanguin de Saint-Pavin, Poésies, ed. Nicholas Hammond (Paris:
Classiques Garnier, 2012), 67. The translation is my own. I have numbered the
lines of verse.
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11
„Restablissement dans l‟ordre.‟ University of Chicago: ARTFL Dictionnaire de
l'Académie française, 1st Edition (1694), s.v. „Reforme,‟ viewed 29 June 2015,
http://artflsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/dicos/pubdico1look.pl?strippedhw=reforme.
The translation is my own.
12
„Seul, je m‟en joue en rêvant.‟ Saint-Pavin, Poésies, 67. The translation is my
own.
13
Pierre Hurteau, „Catholic Moral Discourse on Male Sodomy and Masturbation in
the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,‟ Journal of the History of Sexuality 4.1
(1993): 17.
14
„Garder avec soin, garantir, maintenir en son entier, empescher qu‟une chose ne
se perde, ne se gaste, ne nous soit ostée.‟ University of Chicago: ARTFL
Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 1st Edition (1694), s.v. „Conserver,‟ viewed
29 June 2015,
http://artflsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgibin/dicos/pubdico1look.pl?strippedhw=conserver. The translation is my own.
15
„le nom que tout le monde [lui] donne.‟ Saint-Pavin, Poésies, 67. The translation
is my own.
16
Poems 108 and 109. Michel Jeanneret, ed., La muse lascive: anthologie de la
poésie érotique et pornographique française (1560-1660) (Paris: José Corti, 2007),
272-273.
17
„Aucune édition des poésies de Saint-Pavin n‟ayant été publiée de son vivant, il
est impossible de suivre l‟ordre désiré par le poète lui-même. De plus, l‟absence de
dates précises pour la composition de la plupart de ses vers exclut toute tentative de
les ranger par ordre chronologique.‟ Hammond, „Introduction‟, 43. The translation
is my own.
18
Saint-Pavin, Poésies, 78. The translation is my own. I have numbered the lines
of verse.
19
„Saint-Pavin reste souvent sceptique devant les positions de l‟Église vis-à-vis de
l‟amour charnel et ne manque jamais l‟occasion d‟ironiser sur l‟enseignement
religieux.‟ Hammond, „Introduction‟, 25-26. The translation is my own.
20
„Il serait plus correct de les [poèmes de cette section] intituler Épigrammes
imitées de Martial.‟ [„It would be more correct to call [the poems of this section]
Epigrams in imitation of those of Martial‟s.‟] Saint-Pavin, Poésies, 75. Hammond
states this in note 1 of the page.
21
The Columbia Encyclopedia, s.v. „Epigram,‟ viewed 29 June 2015,
http://revproxy.brown.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com.revproxy.br
own.edu/content/entry/columency/epigram/0.
22
Paula Bennett and Vernon A. Rosario II, „Introduction: The Politics of Solitary
Pleasures‟, in Solitary Pleasures: The Historical, Literary, and Artistic Discourse
of Autoeroticism, edited by Paula Bennet and Vernon A. Rosario II (New York and
London: Routledge, 1995), 3.
Brigitte Stepanov
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23
„La sodomie – celle des anciens droits civil ou canonique – était un type d‟actes
interdits ; leur auteur n‟en était que le sujet juridique. L‟homosexuel du XIXe
siècle est devenu un personnage : un passé, une histoire et une enfance, un
caractère, une forme de vie ; une morphologie aussi, avec une anatomie indiscrète
et peut être une physiologie mystérieuse.‟ Foucault, La volonté de savoir, 59. The
translation is my own.
Bibliography
Androutsos, Georges. „De l‟onanisme à la masturbation. Une note historique.‟
Andrologie 15.1 (2005): 71-79.
Bennett, Paula and Vernon A. Rosario II. „Introduction: The Politics of Solitary
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Foucault, Michel. Histoire de la sexualité 1: La volonté de savoir. Paris:
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Hammond, Nicholas. „Introduction: “Avec aisance je compose/Tantôt en vers,
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Hurteau, Pierre. „Catholic Moral Discourse on Male Sodomy and Masturbation in
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From Masturbation to Self
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„Epigram.‟ In The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press,
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Brigitte Stepanov is currently pursuing a PhD in French Studies at Brown
University. Her research interests lie in twentieth century and contemporary
French and Francophone literature, with a focus on cruelty, the limits of
representation, memory, and love.