When Men Meet - (Homosexuality and Modernity) by Bech Henning (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This work proposes a novel interpretation of the nature of masculinity and its connections with homosexuality. Besides a critical discussion of existing theories in the area, the author also analyzes a rich variety of other materials, including novels, films and other literature. It represents both an analysis of the places in which encounters occur - the railway station, the park, the disco, the consulting room, the stadium - and is also a metaphor for key aspects of modernity.

From the Back Cover

Bech proposes a novel interpretation of the nature of masculinity and its connections with homosexuality. Besides a critical discussion of existing theories in the area, the author also analyses a rich variety of other materials, including novels, films and other literature. "When Men Meet "represents both an analysis of the places in which encounters occur - the railway station, the park, the disco, the consulting room, the stadium - but is also a metaphor for key aspects of modernity. In analysing the nature of the modern social world, Bech makes use of insights from Adorno and Benjamin as well as Sartre and Heidegger.

Modernity and sexuality, Bech argues, are both intertwined and changing. He concludes by proposing that, having been created by modernity, 'the homosexual' is now disappearing in conjunction with the changes transforming modernity itself.

Review Quotes

"Henning Bech is one of the most original and thought-provoking interpreters of contemporary culture who emerged in recent years in European social science. The publishers are to be congratulated on making his "magnum opus" available to English readers, who will find Bech's work unlike anything they read thus far, opening entirely new horizons."

"On the face of it, this book is a most thorough and profound insight into the homosexual experience; but it is also a most synthetic, multifaceted analysis of contemporary living, of which that experience is a sample, an epitome and condensed expression. An exemplary exercise in reaching the totality through a case study." "Zygmunt Bauman, University of Leeds "

"Henning Bech is one of the most original and stimulating contemporary writers on sexuality. "When Men Meet "is an extraordinarily ambitious work about the conditions and possibilities of life in modern society, and Bech produces a dazzling melange of insights and observations. A significant contribution to debates within gay and lesbian studies, gender studies, queer theory, and cultural studies, as well as wider debates about modernity and postmodernity, it could become a landmark book." "Jeffrey Weeks, South Bank University, London "