“One must be ruthless in the cause of Beauty”: Beverley Nichols's and John Fowler's Queer Domesticity in 1950s England

  • Joshua Adair Murray State University

Abstract

This essay focuses on the interior decoration style now known as “English Country†that is often credited to John Fowler and the “gardening novels†of author Beverley Nichols. I argue that through an appeal to England’s idealized past, particularly the aristocratic tradition and the eighteenth century, Fowler and Nichols queered the visual representation of British national identity in properties owned by the National Trust, in popular magazines, and in novels. I also argue that both Nichols and Fowler, by grounding their efforts at beautification and stylization in a mythical British past, gain a kind of de facto acceptance for queer men and the queering of gender for consumers of their various media, both visual and printed. Finally, analysis of Fowler’s and Nichols’s work identifies a significant precedent for effeminate queers today who refuse the assimilation into mainstream masculinity called for by many homosexuals and heterosexuals alike.

Author Biography

Joshua Adair, Murray State University

Joshua Adair is an assistant professor in the Department of English and Philosophy at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. His recent publications include a chapter in Amy K. Levin’s edited collection Gender and Sexuality in Museums: A Reader (Routledge 2010) entitled “House Museum or Walk-In Closet? The (Non)Representation of Gay Men in the House Museums They Called Home,†and “A Love That Cares Not Speak Its Name: Clive Durham as Narrative Guide in E. M. Forster’s Maurice,†which appeared in the 2010 volume of the SKASE Journal of Literary Studies. Adair’s current research focuses upon narratives of queer domesticity in the works of Gladys Taber.

Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to the author at jadair1@murraystate.edu

Published
2010-10-01
How to Cite
ADAIR, Joshua. “One must be ruthless in the cause of Beautyâ€: Beverley Nichols's and John Fowler's Queer Domesticity in 1950s England. Visual Culture & Gender, [S.l.], v. 5, p. 16-27, oct. 2010. ISSN 1936-1912. Available at: <http://vcg.emitto.net/index.php/vcg/article/view/47>. Date accessed: 29 mar. 2024.
Section
Articles