Truman Capote’s Decadent/Campy Parody of Southern Gothic: Aesthetic Self-Distancing in Other Voices, Other Rooms
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI find the overall argument persuasive and compelling—particularly the notion of decadent aesthetics as a dissident/survivalist strategy in 1950s American culture. Capote certainly uses the Southern Gothic traditions to condemn heteronormativity and the repressive elements of the McCarthy era, and the rural dandy figure is an powerful image for this. The author is also effective in anchoring the work historically, drawing on important sources such as David Johnson’s The Lavender Scare.
Author Response
Comment 1: I find the overall argument persuasive and compelling—particularly the notion of decadent aesthetics as a dissident/survivalist strategy in 1950s American culture. Capote certainly uses the Southern Gothic traditions to condemn heteronormativity and the repressive elements of the McCarthy era, and the rural dandy figure is an powerful image for this. The author is also effective in anchoring the work historically, drawing on important sources such as David Johnson’s The Lavender Scare.
Response 1: Thank you so much for taking time for review the manuscript. I appreciate your positive comments, especially on the historical context of my argument.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe Carroll reference in line 162 is appropriate in the context of its paragraph, but comes out of nowhere for me since Carroll has not been included among the numerous authors mentioned to this point.
The paragraph that begins in line 175, for me, begs for some comparison or mention of the overgrown garden in Tennessee Williams's Suddenly Last Summer which treats similar themes in terms of queerness and would occupy the same timeframe which is the focus of the argument.
In line 374, for readers who do not have a deep knowledge of Wilde's Picture, might at least a note not be necessary to elucidate the character of Basil? Related to this, since Wilde plays such a large role in the analysis, might we not consider the need early in the paper to establish some of Wilde's key tenets for readers who are unfamiliar?
I understand the argument to be the manner in which Capote utilizes the decadent to transition the southern Gothic from a back-looking paradigm dealing with the plantation system as the primary Gothic terror of the South to a means of addressing mid-twentieth century homophobia. I am still not sure how camp relates to this, however. Camp only occasionally makes its presence known in the writing until the final section of the paper, and here it is primarily applied to the treatment of Black characters which raises more questions in my mind about Capote's racial attitudes as opposed to being an aspect of queerness. Is the consideration of camp truly necessary? Is the decadent not enough?
Author Response
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Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
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1. Summary |
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Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. I appreciate your helpful comments to improve my manuscript. I have tried to reflect your suggestions to the revision mainly by adding three paragraphs in the early part of the first body section. Please find the detailed responses below and the corresponding revisions/corrections highlighted/in track changes in the re-submitted files.
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2. Questions for General Evaluation |
Reviewer’s Evaluation |
Response and Revisions |
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Does the introduction provide sufficient background and include all relevant references? |
Yes/Can be improved/Must be improved/Not applicable |
[Please give your response if necessary. Or you can also give your corresponding response in the point-by-point response letter. The same as below] |
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Are all the cited references relevant to the research? |
Yes/Can be improved/Must be improved/Not applicable |
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Is the research design appropriate? |
Yes/Can be improved/Must be improved/Not applicable
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Are the methods adequately described? |
Yes/Can be improved/Must be improved/Not applicable |
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Are the results clearly presented? |
Yes/Can be improved/Must be improved/Not applicable
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Are the conclusions supported by the results? |
Yes/Can be improved/Must be improved/Not applicable |
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3. Point-by-point response to Comments and Suggestions for Authors |
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Comments 1: The Carroll reference in line 162 is appropriate in the context of its paragraph, but comes out of nowhere for me since Carroll has not been included among the numerous authors mentioned to this point.
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Response 1: Thank you for pointing this out. I agree with this comment. I did not mention Carroll in the introduction because he is neither a fin de siècle decadent nor a Southern Gothic writer; I mentioned this reference to suggest Capote’s parodic/campy intension, but stressing Carroll’s name at the beginning of the first body section can be misleading. Therefore, I have modified the paragraph concerned to stress Capote’s playful use of Southern Gothic tropes and to attenuate the presence of the Carroll reference. Please look at pp 4-5.
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Comments 2: The paragraph that begins in line 175, for me, begs for some comparison or mention of the overgrown garden in Tennessee Williams's Suddenly Last Summer which treats similar themes in terms of queerness and would occupy the same timeframe which is the focus of the argument.
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Response 2: I really appreciate that you reminded me of Williams’s play. I tried to summarize the genealogy of the decadent rhetoric of botany that was inherited from fin de siècle decadence to Southern Gothic, using Williams along with Wilde, Huysmans, and Faulkner. Please look at pp. 5-6. I hope this also clarifies the significance of Capote’s parodic/campy development of decadence/Southern Gothic.
Comments 3: In line 374, for readers who do not have a deep knowledge of Wilde's Picture, might at least a note not be necessary to elucidate the character of Basil? Related to this, since Wilde plays such a large role in the analysis, might we not consider the need early in the paper to establish some of Wilde's key tenets for readers who are unfamiliar?
Response 3: I agree. To clarify Wilde’s significance to Capote and also to the decadent and Southern Gothic genres, I have quickly summarized the story and main characters of The Picture of Dorian Gray and its decadent and queer rhetoric of botany by focusing on the iconic garden scene at the beginning of the novel.
Comments 4: I understand the argument to be the manner in which Capote utilizes the decadent to transition the southern Gothic from a back-looking paradigm dealing with the plantation system as the primary Gothic terror of the South to a means of addressing mid-twentieth century homophobia. I am still not sure how camp relates to this, however. Camp only occasionally makes its presence known in the writing until the final section of the paper, and here it is primarily applied to the treatment of Black characters which raises more questions in my mind about Capote's racial attitudes as opposed to being an aspect of queerness. Is the consideration of camp truly necessary? Is the decadent not enough?
Response 4: I totally understand your concern. In the original manuscript, I tried to emphasize Capote’s campy turn of decadence because I believe one of the novel’s intensions was, while exploiting the literary tradition of decadence, to criticize its authoritarian potential, but the too small presence of camp in the early part of my discussion naturally arouse concerns like yours. I tried to prepare my discussion on the campy aspects of the novel in the paragraphs mentioned, by stressing the campiness of Joel’s quasi-Southern Gothic/Carroll-like dream and also by differentiating his parodic exploitation of botanical imagery from more traditional decadents and Southern Gothic writers. |
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Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsA thoughtful and thought-provoking analysis of Capote's use of the decadent in his first novel. This essay actually opened up the novel to me and made me reconsider it quite a bit. The arguments add a new take on Southern Gothic as well as dandyism, fin de siècle, and camp.
Author Response
Comments 1: A thoughtful and thought-provoking analysis of Capote's use of the decadent in his first novel. This essay actually opened up the novel to me and made me reconsider it quite a bit. The arguments add a new take on Southern Gothic as well as dandyism, fin de siècle, and camp.
Response: Thank you so much for taking the time to review this manuscript. I appreciate your positive comments.
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsWhat has been revised looks good, but I still do not see the relevance of camp to the argument.
Author Response
Thank you for your comment. I revised the manuscript to address the relevance of camp in each section, mainly by (1) revising the final paragraph of the introduction (2) adding a paragraph on the camp effect of Joel’s collections in the first body section (pp. 8-9) (3) adding a short paragraph on the camp effect of Randolph’s past story in the second body section (p. 16) (4) elaborating the campy performativity of Zoo in the third body section (p. 18). I hope this revision will address the concerns pointed out.
