Un désir démesuré d’amitié by Hélène Giannecchini
Un désir démesuré d’amitié is an invitation to an open conversation about the ever-widening gap between the variety and profound hybridity of the ties that bind us to those closest to us, and the inability of our judiciary to recognize the value and the power of these ties.
The child of 3 parents, all three heterosexual, Hélène, who describes herself as very close to her family, has found in the history of the LBGTQ+ communities another genealogy, not to replace the first, but to complete it. This history, full of silences, euphemisms, violence and discrimination, but also of joy, forms one of the thread of her narrative, through letters, stories, photos and documentaries found in various LGBTQ+ archives. Her approach as a writer and as a historian of photography turns this exploration into a fascinating journey.
Through readings, and conversations with friends, artists and various encounters, Hélène continues to question the relevance of the overwhelming power conferred to the bonds of the marital bond as opposed to those of friendship. Quoting Saint Just, a figure of the French Revolution she stresses the need to “find a positive way of bonding and ensuring the coherence of society. Friendship is an ideal union, a freely consented contract that unites citizens.”
If one of the function of family is to provide a narrative offering each of its members a place and preserving its memory, where does that leave those who choose to live on its margins? Who will preserve their memory? What traces will they leave behind? Who will tell their stories? Hélène Giannecchini points out gaps and absences in the LGTQ+ archives that the world has forgotten to address: why do we see so few images of everyday life in LGBTQ+ communities when there’s no shortage of pictures of their protest, or party?
In this light, it’s easy to understand the importance of works such as Sébastien Lifshitz’s documentary Casa Suzanna, or the astonishing by photographer Donna Gottschalk, which the French public will be able to discover in autumn 2025 at Le Bal (Paris). Gottschalk’s images bear witness to the tenderness and strength of the bonds that unite her and her friends/lovers, as well as to the violence they’ve endured throughout their existence.
How, then, should the stories of “those lives that are too easily forgotten, those that count for less” be told? A collection of texts would present each story as a “fait divers” and erase their political dimension. A theoretical essay would limit drastically the readership. Inventing an intellectual journey that moves on from personal recollections to readings, to conversations and analysis of works is an unstoppable way of inviting readers into an inclusive revolution which would benefit us all: “homosexuality enables us to create other links, to create new categories, to question certain borders, to soften certain rigidities. What is formed here could be of use to all.”
Un désir démesuré d’amitié by Hélène Giannecchini, La Librairie du XXIème siècle, Seuil
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