Chapter 7 Dustan’s Ghetto: Paris and the Marais as Loci of Extremes

In: Marginal Paris
Author:
Olivier Le Blond
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Type:
Chapter
Pages:
151–168
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004707894_009

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Abstract

This chapter explores the early works of Guillaume Dustan and looks at the city of Paris and the Marais neighborhood as loci of extremes. Following a short history of the Marais, I explore the notion of ghetto. The term has strong historical connotations of oppression, but Dustan calls the Marais “le ghetto,” which is a shorthand way of referring to both the Marais neighborhood and the Parisian gay community. The chapter then looks at what can be considered by some as extreme sex practices that Dustan and his partners engaged in: barebacking, use of sex toys and drug consumption at a time when HIV was still a deadly virus. The Lacanian principle of the death drive emerges as one of the guiding principles of Dustan’s search for pleasure.

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Marginal Paris

Representing the Shadows of the City of Light

Series:  Francopolyphonies, Volume: 35
Cover Marginal Paris
E-Book ISBN:
9789004707894
Publisher:
Brill
Print Publication Date:
03 Sep 2024

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