Queer Places:
140 Rue de la Tombe Issoire, 75014 Paris, France
Cimetière de Montrouge, 18 Av. de la Prte de Montrouge, 75014 Paris, France
Armand Dubarry (November 28, 1836 - December 2, 1910) was a prolific 19th-century French journalist and writer known for his wide-ranging literary output, which spanned travel
writing, historical anecdotes, and a series of sensationalist "psychopathological" novels.
Dubarry was an active contributor to the French press, working as a journalist for Journal des voyages and as an editor for Le Musée des familles. He authored numerous works on diverse subjects, including food history (Histoire anecdotique des aliments), the sea, and Italian brigandage.
He is perhaps best remembered today for his series of sensationalist novels titled Les Déséquilibrés de l'amour ("The Unbalanced in Love"). Published between 1896 and 1902, this series was designed to appeal to public interest in "psychopathological" behavior and sexual deviance. The books were notably successful in their time, often going through dozens of editions.
Les Invertis (often subtitled Le vice allemand or "The German Vice"), was the second volume in the Les Déséquilibrés de l'amour cycle.
While the work was published in 1896, it saw multiple reissues, including a notable edition in 1906.
Dubarry used his novels to explore various "sexual deviations" that were gaining attention in contemporary medical and psychiatric discourse. In Les Invertis, he constructs a complex, soap-opera-like plot involving overlapping queer relationships, which Graham Robb notes for its "original situations." The narrative highlights the intersection of late-19th-century bourgeois marriage, illicit desire, and the evolving medicalization of homosexuality.
While popular and commercially successful, Dubarry’s novels are generally categorized as sensationalist literature. In academic circles, they are studied primarily as artifacts of how "inversion" (the contemporary term for homosexuality) was popularized, discussed, and pathologized in French mass culture at the turn of the century.
References:
 Strangers: Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century by Graham Robb |
Other references:
Support this project
This website is a passion project researched, developed, and funded entirely by me. If you find the content valuable and would like to help support the ongoing research and hosting costs, any contribution is deeply appreciated.
Thank you for keeping this independent resource alive!
My books on Amazon: Elisa Rolle's books