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

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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

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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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