Page 11 - Camp Project Final
P. 11
Isherwoodian Camp
Writer Christopher Isherwood introduced the world to the concept of “High Camp” vs. “Low Camp” in his 1954 novel The World in the Evening. High Camp is sophisticated: it’s baroque art, the opera, the ballet. Aeshtetics and philosophy are involved. On the other hand, Low Camp is debased, and overtly queer. Low Camp is “a swishy llittle boy with peroxided hair, dressed in a picture hat, and a feather boa, pretending to be Marlene Dietrich. Isherwood is also responsible for one of art’s campiest characters, Sally Bowles. Bowles is the protagionist of the novella Goodbye to Berlin, which was eventually made into a famous Camp film called Cabaret, starring Liza Minellli.
“Camp is mock luxurious”
- Mark Booth
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