\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