The Letter, Issue 8, Autumn 1996, Pages i - iii
Editorial
Perversion, Religion and Anxiety take the stage in this Autumn's issue of our journal. Late last year Dr Andre Michels journeyed from Luxembourg to Dublin to deliver a series of lectures on Oscar Wilde and the subject of perversion. While the first of these aimed at presenting details of the life of Oscar Wilde, linking his homosexuality with his aesthetic theory and his work, the second draws on this 'case history' of the man who took on the cloak of the Wandering Jew, to elaborate the theoretical framework within which the enigma of perversion can be situated. We are pleased to be able to open this issue of THE LETTER with transcripts of his contributions, which are all the more valued and valuable since his remarks bear all the hallmarks of observations gleaned from clinical practice. Since the texts of his work produced here rely largely on a taped recording of those lectures, we hope these retain the texture of the author's spoken offering.
Stephen Costello, during the discussion following Andre Michels' first lecture, (a transcript of which accompanies the text given here), wondered what it was in Bosie that so captivated Wilde. His article, an annex to that discussion, represents some of this 'wondering' about the lure of the look, le regard.