\input zine.sty

\lline{\hl Dig Our Heroes Out Of The Trash}
\lline{Steve Abbott}

It's no secret to HOMOCORE readers that American education�
sucks. Our true history's distorted and denied as we're force-fed�
a boring history of our oppressors. No wonder many of us vomit at�
the mere mention of ``literature''. The garage band and `zine�
movement is a good start in creating our own stories and�
identities.

But the punk anarcho-queer `zine movement also has a history. In�
fact for as long as there's been an ``official'' history, there's�
been a radical opposition -- even if the ruling class has trashed�
our punk ancestors out of the school books. Its' tim we fight�
back and reclaim our history.

My proposal is this: make a list or ``map'' of your�
\underbar{own} influences and heroes. This could include bands,�
artists, film makers, `zines, political militants, etc. I've made�
several such ``maps'' over the years because I find it gives me�
strength. It clarifies my ideas, sparks my creativity, and gives�
me solidarity with others on the fight against boredom and�
oppression. To know where we've been not only makes me proud, it�
also sharpens my ideas about where I want to go.

This ``Hippie Histomap'' (which I did in the early 80's) is more�
linear than one I'd do today. Today my map might look more like a�
DNA spiral with different size circles to show how much influence�
I've taken from different places. But create your own histomap in�
whatever way you want. It's \underbar{your} life so be your own�
teacher. This said, here's some notes on some of my own fave punk�
ancestors.

{\bf Lautramont} (1846 -- 1870) was a tall, skinny nervous kid�
with a squeaky voice who died at age 24. Born in Uruguay, he�
lived the last couple years of his life in Paris where he wrote�
\underbar{Maldoror} and \underbar{The Poesies}. He wrote only at�
night, punctuating his sentences with loud chords on the piano as�
he declaimed them (a Johnny Rotten before his time). Even by�
today's standards, Lautramont's stuff is hardcore.

{\bf Rimbaud} (1854 -- 1891) started writing at age 13. At 17 he�
became boyfriends with Verlaine (who was 20 years older) and he�
wrote some really hot shit for the next couple years. Snubbed by�
Verlaine's wife and the pompous literary scene in Paris, Rimbaud�
became as socially obnoxious as possible (he'd put lice in his�
hair so he could pick it out at parties; he diddled with Verlaine�
under cafe tables as they drank absinthe). \underbar{Season In�
Hell} is his classic. Gay Sunshine published some of his and�
Verlaine's dirtiest poems in a book called \underbar{A Lover's�
Cock}.

The late 1890's was the beginning of the punk `zine movement. In�
England {\bf Oscar Wilde} and {\bf Aubrey Beardsley} contributed�
to \underbar{The Yellow Book} (Wilde was jailed shortly�
thereafter cuz he was fucking a rich dude's kid; Beardsley died�
young of consumption). In Germany a similar `zine was�
\underbar{Die Yungend} (The Youth). The proto-punk gang in France�
included {\bf Baudelaire} (who dyed his hair green), {\bf Nerval}�
(who walked lobsters on a leash), {\bf Huysmans} (who praised the�
dark and unnatural over the natural), {\bf Raymond Roussel}�
(whose weird novels are great) and the painter {\bf Odilon Redon}�
(who illustrated a book of poetry for the Belgian Satanist Iwan�
Gilkin).

{\bf Edgar Allen Poe} was the only weirdo America could boast of�
before 1900. {\bf Walt Whitman} celebrated queer sex in his�
poetry but you'd never know it from what you're shown in high�
school.

In pre-Nazi Germany there was an anarchist gang of artists,�
musicians and writers in Berlin called New Community. One, {\bf�
Erich Muhsam} (whose first published essay defended homosexuality�
as an innate tendency) did a monthly `zine called�
\underbar{Fanal} from 1926 -- 1931. It's first issue proclaimed�
as it's goal ``to assist in the preparation for revolution''.�
After serving five years in jail for revolutionary activity,�
Muhsam published an anthology of agitational song lyrics in 1925�
which was so popular that he was taken to court again because his�
book ``prepared the way for civil war''. The Nazi SS arrested�
Muhsam the night of the Reichstag fire. He was tortured for 15�
months and finally beaten to death in the office of the�
commandant of Oranienburg concentration camp.

Although thousands of workers attended Muhsam's plays and�
performances, this gay anarchist hero has been completely shut�
out of official histories of the Weimar Republic. Only recently�
has the German anarchist youth  movement revived interest in his�
work. Muhsam's spirit can be seen in the Tunix manifesto: ``We're�
fed up with it here\dots the beer tastes flat like bourgeois�
morality. They've bossed as around long enough inspecting our�
ideas, rooms, passports.''

The 1920's and 30's saw some wild stuff in Paris too. The�
Dadaists and Surrealists are well known so I'll focus on {\bf�
George Bataille}'s circle which is only lately getting attention�
in America. Bataille (1897 -- 1962) turned Marx on his head by�
arguing that economy is based upon waste, not production. He�
defined humans not as workers but as creatures who need to play.�
Breton and Sartre hated Bataille because he championed the dirty,�
the excessive, the kinky, the useless and the mystical. Start�
with \underbar{Story of the Eye} (a porn novel) and�
\underbar{Visions of Excess} (Essays). If you dig that, go on to�
\underbar{Eroticism}, \underbar{Literature and Evil}, and the�
other stuff. Everything the Situationists say derives from�
Bataille.

{\bf Laure} (1903 -- 1938) broke with her rich family and flirted�
with radical politics in Paris, Berlin and Russia. She belonged�
to the secret society {\bf Acephale} with Bataille and Leiris (in�
fact, Bataille was her last boyfriend). Laure's best work is the�
obscenely poetic \underbar{Histoire D'une Petite Fille} which�
still hasn't been translated into English (although Kathy Acker�
did a spin-off of it in my \underbar{Soup 3}). If rock'n'roll�
existed when Laure was alive, she'd have knocked the socks off�
Patti Smith.

{\bf Rene Crevel} (1900 -- 1935) was a fast-lane friend of�
Laure's whose open homosexuality and drug taking scandalized�
literary bigwigs such as Gide, Breton, Pound and Dali. Two of his�
novels are available in English: \underbar{Difficult Death} and�
\underbar{Babylon}. Hounded about his lifestyle and torn by�
political factionalism of his day, Crevel committed suicide in a�
fit of depression.

These writers have left us ideas we can still use as weapons to�
plunge into our enemies hearts. Work by Laure, Crevel, Muhsam and�
others is available in \underbar{Soup 3} for \$4 (checks to�
``Steve Abbott'', 545 Ashbury \#1, San Francisco CA 94117). I'd�
like to see some HOMOCORE letters about other readers' fave�
ancestors.

{\it Steve is also the author of the radical queer sex novel�
\underbar{Holy Terror} (Crossing Press)}

\bye
