Space and Masculinity in James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room

Abstract

James Baldwin’s novel Giovanni’s Room is preoccupied with questions of origin and the identification of an individual’s orientation. The novel senses the loss and longing for home and a place to belong to. The protagonist Giovanni has left his wife and his birth place to find his ways for bread earning in Paris whereas David, the narrator had come to Paris in order to “find himself’”.

Illustrating the relevance of race in general and whiteness in particular, the novel notes only makes whiteness visible but it also portrays its dependence on masculinity and heterosexuality. Baldwin, in this novel projects the fact of whiteness being valued as heterosexuality and blackness is associated with homosexuality, both in literal and metamorphic terms. This paper aims to focus on race and homosexuality which are inseparable revealing both descriptive and symbolic meanings, through interrelatedness and mutual dependence.

LGBT literature deals with or features important LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender) characters or issues and may have same-sex romance or relationships as an important plot device. These authors may not choose to speak openly about their sexuality and tackle it as a theme in their books.