Bewegte Männer

Homosexualities - and in particular male homosexualities - were rarely shown in the history of cinema and if they were shown, then in a ridiculous way either to arouse sympathy or to cause fear. Since the 1980s and even more the 1990s there seems to have been a change in many - mainly Western - countries. This publication will portray this development from a male historian`s point of view. Starting with a "longue-durée" perspective, it traces a process from the establishment of hegemonial masculinity (Connell) since enlightenment and the resulting appearance of male homosexuality as the "other" until the break-down of the hegemonial model following the changes caused by the "1968 movement". This approach seeks to explain a new historic visibility of homosexuality. In spite of all the controversies and the complexity of the resulting diversity in postmodernism, I understand homosexual masculinities as both actors and winners (Kriegsgewinnler according to Bochow) in this battle of the sexes. This study shows the central role of the cinema with its 80-year-tradition of depicting male homosexuality in connection with all these developments. In addition to its reactionary function concerning maintaining the stereotype and taboo of homosexuality, the cinema has always played an important role when it came to self- assurance and formation of political groups among homosexuals. This can be witnessed ever since Richard Oswald`s "Anders als die Anderen" (1919). The significance of the cinema is shown by depicting specific experiences which a potential viewer might have gained about representation and construction of male homosexuality in German films of the 1990s. The selection of films to be analysed does not only include productions of the so-called mainstream cinema but also avantgarde productions, which should render a comprehensive list of images of male homosexuality in the cinema. Apart from discussing Rosa von Praunheim`s films like "Neurosia - 50 Jahre pervers" (1955) or "Der Einstein des Sex" (1999), which will be analysed in the context of Praunheim`s oeuvre as an appraisal of homosexual identities of nearly a century, this pubication also talks about the enormous significance of HIV/AIDS. The films by Jochen Hicks ("Via Appia", 1990 and "No One Sleeps", 2000) or Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss ("Zurück auf Los", 2000) serve to prove this point. Changes in HIV/AIDS narratives in the course of the 1990s will also be presented. These films clearly show how constructions of identity have been and will be influenced by social criteria such as gender, class, race, ethnicity and age and not only by sexual orientation. The films to be analysed as well as analyses of productions of the German "New Queer Cinema" and their constructions of masculinity will further prove these influences. Particular attention will be paid to the following films: "Prinz in Hölleland" (Michael Stock 1993), "Oi! Warning" (Dominik and Benjamin Reding 1998/2000) and "Lola und Bilidikid" (Kutlug Ataman 1998). Furthermore, the film "Der bewegte Mann" will be discussed as an example of the new "German romantic comedy" and as visual proof of the crisis of masculinity towards the end of the 20th century which also serves as a starting point for my work. Finally, the book gives an outlook on the development of gender relations in the 21st century and the much discussed "disappearance of homosexuality".