ISO homoerotic war stories

[kindkit]

I've always had a bit of a thing for war stories (when I was but an ickle!Kit I may possibly have slashed Snoopy and the Red Baron [4th paragraph down] in my mind, not in a sexual way exactly because I WAS ONLY A SMALL CHILD, but slashed them nevertheless), in large part because of the homosocial/homoerotic element. At the moment I seem to have returned to that primal fandom and am happily exploring it.

Rec me things? Fiction or nonfiction, any medium. I'm primarily interested in the two world wars, but I can be flexible on that. Primarily interested in texts from Britain, or at least anywhere other than the US, but I can be flexible on that too. A reasonably important m/m homosocial or homoerotic element is a must (or, in nonfiction, a reasonable discussion of queer issues); actual queer characters or queer focus would delight me to no end.

Here are some things I'm already familiar with:

All Quiet on the Western Front
The Charioteer (Mary Renault)
Colditz
Coming Out Under Fire (Alan Berubé)
Danger UXB (yes, it is homoerotic, at least if you're me)
George Manville Fenn's novels
The Grand Illusion
The Great War and Modern Memory (Paul Fussell)
How Many Miles to Babylon (Jennifer Johnston)
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (book and film)
Prisoners of War (J. R. Ackerley)
Privates on Parade
Regeneration trilogy (Pat Barker)
Secret Army (not actually homoerotic but listing it anyway)
Strange Meeting (Susan Hill--this is an amazing book BTW)
Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and other queer WWI poets
Wings (watch this film, you guys! It has the first known m/m kiss in cinema history; if you guessed that one of the characters is dying, you know your war movie tropes)

All suggestions are appreciated. Can anyone tell me if the Biggles books are worth reading?

Comments

[st_aurafina]

Just to clarify, by homoerotic/homosocial, do you mean lots of men showing affection that wouldn't appear sexual to people not looking for that, but would to people who were?

If that's the case, I'd rec Gallipoli. And lilacsigil says Breaker Morant. (And if Breaker Morant works for you, then you might like the BBC series Callan, which is Cold War, but young Edward Woodward is amazing.)

(Sorry if I've understood the terms. I don't want to rec something you won't enjoy. But I know I loved the queer undercurrents of Gallipoli in sixth grade - long, long before I knew what that feeling was.)

[kindkit]

Hmm. I was trying to define things as broadly as I could (without using the term "slashy," which annoys me more and more). I wanted to include examples of male/male affection that are not necessarily sexual but not necessarily nonsexual either, which is basically what you said. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick talks about homoeroticism as one end of a continuum of homosociality where the divisions between non-erotic friendship, platonic love, and erotic love are not necessarily as clear as our culture likes to pretend. War, I think, is an experience that especially mixes the definition, because intense male bonding is expected. Eh, sorry, I'm probably not clarifying anything, but it's because I don't find the term clear and that's exactly why they interest me.

I've seen Gallipoli (years ago) and Breaker Morant (more recently); I definitely remember Gallipoli as being quite homoerotic/homoromantic. Perhaps I should rewatch it, although I have such an aversion to Mel Gibson now that it might be difficult.

I have some of the available episodes of Callan, too. I need to watch them one of these days--I like Edward Woodward and I adore Anthony Valentine, who's also in it.

Thanks!

[st_aurafina]

No, I totally get it - I had the feeling slashy wasn't the right word to use, but Gallipoli isn't what I'd call slashy anyway. (It's a important film for Aussies, or it was when I was at school, anyway, if you can get over what Mel Gibson became later.)

Chariots of Fire, maybe? Or, The Lighthorsemen? (Does Blackadder Goes Forth count?)

[lilacsigil]

Biggles books are exceptionally racist, classist and patronising even by the standards of the genre. I remember a lot of close male friendships from the few I've read, though, so I guess it depends on what you're willing to slog through to get to the good stuff!

Another (more recent) Australian war film with a similar focus to "Gallipoli" is "Kokoda". I haven't seen it, but from reviews at the time, it seems to have the same mateship focus.

[kindkit]

Thanks!

what you're willing to slog through to get to the good stuff

A lot, generally. *hangs head*

[surexit]

I would like to rec Blackadder Goes Forth, although I know it's... not quite the same as the other stuff on your list. >.> It is amazing, though.

[kindkit]

I've seen it, thanks. I didn't list it because, as you said, it's very much its own thing and the homoeroticism is always pretty jokey . . . none of which prevents me from loving it.

[executrix]

American, not British, but directly about military homophobia:
David Rabe, Streamers
A Soldier's Play (film version A Soldier's Story)--sorry, can't remember the playwright, but about the intersection of racism and homophobia

[kindkit]

Thanks!