Introduction
This work was borne out of a sense of activism, bewilderment, and uneasiness regarding (the marketing of) the current beauty and cosmetic surgery industries. From the outset, one of the main aims of this book was to explore the normalisation of cosmetic procedures – both surgical and non-surgical – and to contribute to governmental policies regulating the cosmetic surgery market. Over the past 30 years, several institutions have called for stricter regulations of the industry and have proposed a ban on the marketing of cosmetic procedures. In an effort to give substance to these recommendations, Labour MP Ann Clwyd proposed the Cosmetic Surgery (Minimum Standards) Bill in 2012. As this Bill did not pass its first reading, Labour MP Kevan Jones introduced a different Cosmetic Surgery (Standards of Practice) Bill in 2016 in an attempt to regulate the cosmetic surgery industry. Although this Bill was also unsuccessful, the debate regarding the regulation of the market is still ongoing (cf. Marsh 2018).
The aim of this book is twofold; firstly, I will provide an overview of the current cosmetic surgery market, particularly in the UK, and consider previous research on the body, (gendered) body projects, and the wider neoliberalist and consumerist context surrounding these projects. Secondly, by engaging with a large dataset of UK lifestyle magazines and the advertising within these publications, I will provide insight into the shifting representation and marketing of cosmetic procedures and (other) beauty products/services1 to contribute to current debates and, most importantly, the conceptualisation of cosmetic procedures. Moreover, through (group) interviews with both men and women, I engage with different views of the beauty market and (the marketing of) cosmetic procedures in particular.
The first two chapters provide an overview of the concept of the body in sociology and discuss the practice and marketing of cosmetic procedures. Chapter 1 explores the wider societal context in which cosmetic procedures are embedded and, in light of this, considers the neoliberalist, consumerist climate of 20th and 21st century Britain (cf. Garnham 2013). This chapter also investigates different perspectives on the (construction of the) body and the popular notion of the body as both
object and project. Because body projects are often gendered, Chapter 1 provides a discussion of ‘masculinities’ and ‘femininities’2. Whereas a wealth of literature has commented on femininities and female bodies in relation to beauty practices, masculinities and male bodies have – until recently – largely been overlooked. As men are increasingly part of the beauty industry, however, it is crucial to consider how men engage with beauty products and practices. Moreover, considering that the commercial sector explicitly distinguishes between hetero- and gay men, sexual orientation in relation to an interest in and consumption of beauty practices is explored in more detail.
As this book revolves around the representation of cosmetic procedures and (other) beauty products/services, Chapter 2 explores the various terms – i.e. ‘reconstructive’, ‘cosmetic’, ‘plastic’, and ‘aesthetic’ – used to denote these procedures and presents a working definition. Moreover, this chapter provides a brief overview of the history of cosmetic surgery and examines the current state and status of the industry in the UK. As part of this exploration, previous research on the representation and normalisation of cosmetic procedures is presented. Interestingly, as HenninkKaminski and Reichert (2011: 43) have noted, only a handful of studies have provided an analysis of the marketing conducted by cosmetic surgery businesses.
The second part of this book starts by explaining the methodological considerations for this project and specifies the methods adopted. As will be explained in Chapter 3, the project, which forms the foundation for this book, comprised both qualitative and quantitative elements and was inspired by the triangle of communication model (cf. Cook 2004); as such, it includes an exploration of not only multimodal documents but also their production and reception.
The final six chapters present an analysis and discussion of both the magazine and interview data. As the first of the analytical chapters, Chapter 4 examines the broad changes discernible in the adverts for cosmetic procedures and (other) beauty products/services published in the various lifestyle magazines. Moreover, this chapter describes several themes and trends in the magazine articles related to cosmetic procedures. Chapter 5 continues the exploration of the nature of the adverts and discusses themes established in previous literature on (cosmetics) advertising. For example, the widely discussed ‘look good/feel good’ trope and ‘problem/solution’ rhetoric are considered. Chapter 6 also focuses on the adverts found in the lifestyle magazines as it explores the medical aspects present not only in adverts for cosmetic procedures but also in beauty product advertising. Although cosmetic procedures and beauty products/services are increasingly grouped together conceptually, the strong relation between beauty products/services and the (cosmetic) medical industry has, to date, received little attention in academic research (cf. Elias, Gill & Scharff 2017: 30). In an attempt to initiate the discussion regarding this conceptual coalescence, Chapter 7 examines how – and to
what extent – cosmetic procedures are aligned with beauty products/services in magazine discourse and how advertising for beauty products/services draws on themes and visuals prevalent in the discourse surrounding cosmetic procedures. Of particular importance for the debates on the regulation of the cosmetic surgery market, this chapter addresses the question whether a boundary between cosmetic procedures and (other) beauty products/services can be distinguished or whether it would be more accurate to view both types of beautification practices and products as belonging to some form of continuum. The final part of Chapter 7 examines the reception of the editorial and advertising content related to cosmetic procedures published in women’s magazines by presenting an analysis of the female focus group data.
As mentioned above, this book includes a particular focus on how the beauty market addresses heterosexual and gay male audiences through advertising and editorial content in both men’s and women’s lifestyle magazines. Chapter 8 explores these issues and also discusses the various (group) interviews I conducted with men to discuss the men’s lifestyle magazine data and their relationship with and views of the beauty market more generally.
Preliminary 1. A Note Regarding Sources
In any analysis of advertising and the marketing world, researchers are faced with the issue of the different nature of academic and commercial literatures. In contrast to academic research, the majority of commercial literature on successful marketing is published with the clear aim to improve a company’s profit. Moreover, the authors of these works are often industry experts and can draw on their personal experience. For the purposes of this thesis, it was essential to look at publications by cosmetic businesses and market reports – such as Mintel and Passport by Euromonitor – in order to understand the market and the changes that have occurred over the past two decades.
Alongside published industry-led materials, I also include data I collected at the Facial Aesthetic Conference and Exhibition (FACE) held in London in June 2015. This annual conference is aimed at professionals within the cosmetic surgery industry and includes a two-day programme dedicated to the marketing of procedures. Inspired by the FACE conference, I read the books and reports recommended by speakers at the conference in order to gain an insight into what leading business consultants for aesthetic practices draw on when designing marketing campaigns. Tony Gedge, a ‘return on investment marketing strategist’ at Marketing Pirates of Dentistry, for example, recommended reading Words that Sell (Bayan 2006) and Inside Her Pretty Little Head (Cunningham & Roberts 2012). Although these books may lack academic rigour, it was important to include them as they inform some of the marketing professionals working for cosmetic providers.
Preliminary 2. Nature of Adverts
A second preliminary note relevant to all research on advertising concerns the nature of adverts. Because of my background as a (socio-)linguist, I have been trained to include and analyse all elements – both textual and visual – present in a document. However, by subjecting adverts to such a rigorous analysis and by placing them at the centre of attention, we run the risk of transforming them; as Cook (2001: 223) has noted, “an ad ceases to be itself when it is scrutinized, and it is impossible to study an ad as it is usually perceived”.
Moreover, a close analysis, such as the one presented in this thesis, evokes the question of how consumers of media documents engage with them since “texts acquire meaning only in the interaction between readers and texts”3 (Hermes 1995: 10). As Hermes (1995) has demonstrated, magazine reading is mostly a very mundane, unengaged activity and researchers must be careful when attributing meaningfulness to particular aspects or elements. Hermes’ findings are echoed in Jackson, Stevenson and Brooks’ (2001: 125) study of men’s engagement with lifestyle magazines, which highlighted the entertainment value of the magazines. What is more, the male participants in Jackson et al.’s study indicated that only “sad losers” – such as academics and feminists, both boxes I personally tick – engage with the magazines in a ‘serious’ manner. Interestingly, as will become clear throughout this book, within the magazines, especially those aimed at (heterosexual) men, humour abounds, which may discourage a ‘serious’ reading.
Like Jackson et al. (2001) and Hermes (1995), Glapka (2014: 186) found that female readers of bridal magazines displayed a “rather unabsorbed relationship with [the magazine’s] content”. However, Glapka questioned whether women are as unengaged as they claim to be; after all, saying and experiencing may be two very different things. As Glapka suggested, perhaps the women wanted to save face by downplaying the extent to which something affected them.
In an attempt to address the issue of audience engagement with, and interpretation of, the documents under analysis, I organised various (group) interviews with both men and women in which the participants were asked to interact with some of the magazine data.
Preliminary 3. Copyrights and Analysing Visuals
When I started this project, I came across various articles and books which, rather than showing the adverts under discussion, included a detailed description of the adverts (cf. Coupland 2007). Initially, this struck me as odd: surely arguments could be more convincing if results were supported by showing the relevant multimodal documents? Determined to illustrate the themes and findings of my project, I included an abundance of pictures of adverts, editorials, and other relevant content.
After several emails to the Intellectual Property Office in the UK, and advice from several (academic) legal advisors, however, it quickly became clear that I would have to obtain copyrights for each and every image of the adverts and/or editorial features that I wanted to use. This is perhaps unsurprising as even an academic book is commercial, but it meant that I would have to approach major beauty, media, and health conglomerates. An additional complicating factor here was that I would have to be open about the angle of this book and the context in which the brands’ content would be placed. In the end, I approached eight beauty brands, four fitness brands, one fashion brand, and 13 cosmetic surgery companies4. In addition, I reached out to the different magazines which I used for the data collection. Of the brands I contacted, only a handful replied, even after several follow-up emails; moreover, most of these responses indicated that the company would ‘unfortunately have to decline the opportunity’. Nevertheless, it must be noted here that these refusals were not necessarily because brands did not want me to use their materials; brands only hold copyrights for a particular period of time and, particularly for the 2001 and 2006 data, some were unable to help. Moreover, some brands indicated that the various licence holders for particular images could not be contacted.
In terms of the cosmetic surgery companies I approached, none replied to my request. However, I again have to point to circumstances beyond the companies’ control; as the production of this book partly took place during the COVID-19 crisis, many of the cosmetic surgery providers closed their doors and aided the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Furthermore, a final complicating factor with regard to approaching cosmetic surgery companies relates to the fact that many of the businesses that advertised in 2001 or in 2006 no longer exist.
All in all, after a year and a half of chasing copyrights, I must say that I understand the overall lack of visual illustrations in academic work that discusses advertising. Nevertheless, due to some exceptions to copyright and the goodwill of some brands and organisations, I can show some of the data throughout this work. Here I would particularly like to thank Elgin Loane from the Color Company, Brendon Bester at Future Publishing, and Ashton Collins from Save Face.
Notes
1 I will refer to beauty products/services besides cosmetic procedures either as ‘(other) beauty products/services’ or ‘beauty products/services’. However, the boundary between cosmetic procedures and (other) beauty products/services is not always clear-cut, as will be explored in the chapter Blurring Boundaries. 2 I use the plural forms ‘femininities’ and ‘masculinities’ here in order to acknowledge the existence of a plurality of femininities/masculinities (cf. Connell 2005; Hall 2014; MacKinnon 2003). However, it is important to note here that femininities/masculinities are related and exist in a hierarchy (cf. Connell 2005).
3 The term ‘text’ has been used to include both linguistic and visual elements. However, following Bateman (2014), I will use ‘text’ only to denote linguistic elements as the extension of the term may be confusing. However, it does need to be noted here that ‘text’ and ‘image’ exist on a continuum.
4 Moreover, I also got in touch with different brands/organisations which either mocked (Nimble/Hovis) or criticised (Save Face) the (regulation of the) cosmetic surgery market in their advertising.
References
Bateman, J. A. (2014). Text and image: A critical introduction to the visual/verbal divide. London: Routledge.
Bayan, R. (2006). Words that sell: More than 6,000 entries to help you promote your products, services and ideas. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Connell, R. W. (2005). Masculinities (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Cook, G. (2001). The discourse of advertising (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Cook, G. (2004). Genetically modified language: The discourse of arguments for GM crops and food. London: Routledge.
Coupland, J. (2007). Gendered discourses on the ‘problem’ of ageing: Consumerized solutions. Discourse & Communication 1.1: 37–61. https:// doi.org/10.1177/1750481307071984
Cunningham, J., & Roberts, P. (2012). Inside her pretty little head. London: Marshall Cavendish Business.
Elias, A. S., Gill, R., & Scharff, C. (Eds.). (2017). Aesthetic labour: Rethinking beauty politics in neoliberalism. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Garnham, B. (2013). Designing ‘older’ rather than denying ageing: Problematizing anti-ageing discourse in relation to cosmetic surgery undertaken by older people. Journal of Aging Studies 27: 38–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging. 2012.11.001
Glapka, E. (2014). Reading bridal magazines from a critical discursive perspective. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hall, M. (2014). It’s a metrosexual thing: A discourse analytical examination of masculinities. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://irep. ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/275/
Hennink-Kaminski, H., & Reichert, T. (2011). Using sexual appeals in advertising to sell cosmetic surgery. Sexuality and Culture 15: 41–55. https://doi. org/10.1007/s12119-010-9081-y
Hermes, J. (1995). Reading women’s magazines. Cambridge: Polity.
Jackson, P., Stevenson, N., & Brooks, K. (2001). Making sense of men’s magazines Cambridge: Polity.
Mackinnon, K. (2003). Representing men: Maleness and masculinity in the media. London: Hodder Education.
Marsh, S. (2018, 18 February). Botched cosmetic surgery: Law change urged as complaints treble. The Guardian
1 Creating and Selling the Malleable Body
The body – both as a concept and a physical reality – is central to this book; experiences, beliefs, and representations of the body inform the body enhancement products and practices discussed here. As the body is a crucial concept for this project, this chapter highlights previous research related to the body. Sections 1.1 and 1.2 provide a brief overview of (historical) perspectives on the body; the connection between body and mind; and the relation between neoliberalism, consumerism, and the idea of the body as project. Following this, Section 1.3 discusses issues of femininity and masculinity with regard to the idea – and marketing – of a malleable body, particularly in lifestyle magazines. Moreover, as I have analysed data from both magazines aimed at heterosexual men (particularly FHM) and those targeted at gay men (especially the Gay Times), this section also explores differences in hetero- and gay men’s involvement in the beauty market as discussed in previous literature.
1.1 The Body as Focus – Naturalism and Social Constructionism
It is not within the scope of this book to provide a full account of previous research on conceptualisations of the body; however, I will focus on some of the most influential ideas and provide a brief outline of how the body gained importance at both the individual and societal level. Overall, two major views of the body can be discerned, namely the naturalistic and social constructionist perspectives (cf. Shilling 2003). However, it must be noted here that the distinction between naturalist and social constructionist views of the body are not absolute; rather, as Coupland and Gwyn (2003: 7) have stated, “most writers … take up a position that argues for synthesis [between the naturalistic and social constructionist views]: framing the body as having a material biological base, but subject to alteration and modification within different social contexts”.
The naturalistic perspective emerged in the 18th century and encompasses a variety of views which “conceptualise the body as the biological base on which arises the superstructure of society” (Shilling 2003: 14). Despite this variety of views, the naturalistic perspective of the body
is predominantly associated with 20th-century socio-biology, which was pioneered in E.O. Wilson’s Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (1975) and aimed to “establish a biological basis for human behaviour” (ibid: 43). Although various contemporary debates – for instance in the field of evolutionary psychology – may still employ socio-biological arguments, the field has been widely criticised, particularly in the social sciences, for its simplification of complex social phenomena and its deterministic character (cf. Driscoll 2013; Shilling 2003).
An alternative view of the body favoured in contemporary social sciences can be found in social constructionism, which regards the body “as a receptor, rather than a generator, of social meanings” (Shilling 2003: 62). Some famous theorists adopting a social constructionist approach include Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, and Erving Goffman. Foucault was especially concerned with power relations and social control and argued that the body is constituted by discourse, which omits the physical, material nature of the body as a biological entity. Whereas Foucault sees the body as produced – and controlled1 – by social forces, Goffman views the body as a resource, a form of material possession, which is (partly) regulated by the individual. However, Goffman, like Foucault, recognises how meanings attributed to the body cannot always be governed but rather are socially determined (Goffman 1963). What is more, the social meanings ascribed to the body “tend to become internalized and exert a powerful influence on an individual’s sense of self and feelings of inner worth” (Shilling 2003: 73).
In a sense, like Goffman, Bourdieu also regards the body as property as he sees the body as ‘bearer of symbolic value’, as physical capital. However, the body does not inherently possess a set of fixed qualities, although congenital anomalies form an exception to this. Predominantly, then, the body is an “unfinished entity”, which “[is] formed through … participation in social life and [becomes] imprinted with social class” (Shilling 2003: 113). Through his focus on social class in relation to the body, Bourdieu identified various relations that people in different social classes may have to their bodies. For example, Bourdieu argues that the working classes hold a mainly instrumental relation to their bodies; they regard the body as a means to an end as it constitutes a factor of production. Moreover, as the emphasis is on hard physical labour, workingclass men tend to valorise exterior manifestations of strength, including, for example, muscularity (Crossley 2006: 23). In contrast, the dominant classes usually have more free time and more disposable income to treat the body as a project. It needs to be noted here, however, that within the dominant classes there is a multiplicity of body projects available and these vary greatly within social groups (Shilling 2003: 151).
One of the main issues with Bourdieu’s theory is that the traditional class system, based on occupation and employment status, is no longer as clearly delineated as before; as Savage et al. (2013: 220) have argued, it does not sufficiently capture “the role of social and cultural processes
in generating class divisions”. Moreover, the traditional class structure has undergone major changes in light of industrial restructuring, which resulted in a shift from manual labour to an economy which relies heavily on the service industries (Annandale 2003: 87). In addition, class is no longer a firm indicator of spending habits; for example, luxury products and services such as cosmetic procedures, previously reserved for the middle and upper classes, are now (presented as) accessible to all through loans and instalment payment plans.
Relatively little sociological research into the body was conducted before the (late) 20th century. In an attempt to explain this absence, Turner (1991) and Shilling (2003) have both pointed to the pervasive influence of the mind/body duality as advanced by Descartes. This duality perceived the mind to be rational and separate from the body, which rendered studies into the social construction of the body redundant (Erdrich 2007: 44; Hollander 1920). At present, the idea of a mind/body duality can still be found in Western societies’ conception of the body as a material object distinct from one’s mind which can be controlled through discipline and morality (Thompson & Hirschman 1995: 142) and, as I would like to argue, consumption (cf. Featherstone 1991). Interestingly, in her exploration of cosmetic surgery narratives, Huss-Ashmore (2000: 32) argued that the disjuncture between the outer ‘self’ and some form of inner ‘self’ was paramount in these discourses.
Although the body and the mind may be presented or experienced as separate, traditionally they have also been regarded as intertwined. Platonic philosophy already presented the physiognomic assumption that connects outer appearance to a person’s character; a beautiful physique was believed to reflect a good character and vice versa (Featherstone 2010: 195; Moeran 2010: 495). If the body and some form of inner self are indeed associated in people’s perception, then the beautification of the body may work in two ways – on the one hand, it may work to align the experienced and changing inner self with the perceived outer self, whereas, on the other hand, enhancing one’s appearance may be done in the hope of changing the inner self. As Sullivan (2010: 408) has pointed out, the physiognomic assumption “morphed into the modern, secular idea that every woman could be beautiful if she bought the new products and services offered by the burgeoning beauty industry”.
Although the mind–body dichotomy may still be found in contemporary discourses, there has been a substantial shift in emphasis away from the mind/inner self to the material body. As Giddens (1991) has argued, the body came into focus as religious, political, and other ‘grand narratives’ that traditionally placed great emphasis on the mind, the soul, and “existential and ontological certainties outside the individual” have declined (Shilling 2003: 2, emphasis in original). Associated with this decline in various traditions and ideologies, the view that the modern age and ‘the self’ are ontologically unstable and ‘out of control’ has encouraged the increased emphasis on bodies. As Featherstone
Creating and Selling the Malleable Body
(1991: 188) has noted, the body is a last site of influence for individuals. Moreover, the Enlightenment ideology that people can redesign themselves to achieve happiness is still popular today (cf. Jackson & Hogg 2010); the idea of a transformable body has persisted and has become firmly entwined with and promoted by consumerism, as will be discussed in the next section.
1.2 The Body as Focus – Neoliberalism and Consumerism
Alongside a discussion of naturalist, social constructionist, and dualist understandings of the body, the wider societal context surrounding magazine and marketing discourses needs to be considered. For this reason, this section provides a brief introduction to the concepts of neoliberalism and consumerism as related to the topic of this project2.
The mass production of the early 20th century is often said to have induced mass consumerism, which, coupled with increasingly independent consumers, established a consumer culture that was promoted by the various new media of the 1920s such as motion pictures, the tabloid press, and mass circulation magazines (Ewen 2001; Featherstone 1991). As Turner (1991) has pointed out, consumer culture expanded rapidly after the Second World War and still thrives in contemporary neoliberal climates which emphasise the individualism, choice, and agency premised by consumerism (Crawshaw 2007; Moran & Lee 2013). Essentially, consumerist ideology asserts that “the meaning of life is to be found in buying things and pre-packaged experiences” (Bocock 1993: 50); moreover, the purchase and display of products and services helps create and maintain a particular identity (cf. Moran & Lee 2013). It is not surprising that time and money spent on consumption activities are expanded in consumer societies (Edwards 1997: 4).
Paradoxically, however, the products or services for sale may not be at the heart of consumerism. Rather, as Bocock (1993:67) has noted, “all consumption is always the consumption of symbolic signs”. As both signifier and signified may change, signs must necessarily be “freefloating” – i.e. not bound to particular objects – so that they can be used “in a multiplicity of associative relations” (Featherstone 2007: 15)3. Advertising in particular makes use of the idea of a “floating signifier” as it needs to imbue products with a variety of different qualities and meanings (Featherstone 1991: 174). If consumption does indeed involve the consumption of signs, it follows that it is an idealist rather than a material process – people create, maintain, and convey a sense of identity through what they consume (Bocock 1993: 67–68).
The body is pivotal to consumerism as it is regarded as the most precious object in the consumer package (Baudrillard 1998: 129; cf. Garnham 2013). Within consumer culture, the body is viewed as malleable object, a project “which should be worked at and accomplished as
part of an individual’s self-identity” (Shilling 2003: 4). This notion of the body (and sometimes identity) as project has been reviewed extensively both in relation to consumerism (e.g. see Annandale 2003; Bocock 1993; Featherstone 1991, 2000, 2007; Giddens 1991) and more generally (e.g. see Rose 1999; Turner 2008). As advertising for cosmetic procedures and beauty product/service advertising are built around the idea of the body as project (cf. Woodstock 2001), this theme will be expanded on in later chapters.
Unlike most other, non-somatic projects, body projects are not a matter of choice and cannot be ‘finished’. As there is no sense of completion or a final outcome, apart from the one provided by death, it has been argued that body projects are more accurately described as ongoing ‘processes’ in which the body is in a continuous state of ‘becoming’ (Jones 2008; Shilling 2003; Waskul & Vannini 2006). Since every human being is born in/with a body4, the body process is unavoidable and is imbued with a sense of responsibility. Consumer culture reinforces this, as it “[encourages] people to see their bodies as the products of personal intervention and effort” (Twigg 2006: 54); ultimately, people must be motivated and actively involved in their quest for perfection. Marketing cleverly incorporates this theme of agency by constructing the consumer as empowered; as such, consumption offers the opportunity to convey agency through emphasising choices and power (Smirnova 2012: 1241). Important to note is that empowerment is not used in a conventional sense here, but rather is driven by and reliant on the purchase of a product or service that is in some way loaded with the meaning of power (Machin 2007: 14).
The theme of agency and responsibility within consumerism can be found more widely in contemporary Western societies. Since the 1970s and 1980s, particularly during Margaret Thatcher’s government, neoliberalism blossomed in the UK and, as stated above, individuals have increasingly been presented as independent as they must continuously govern and improve themselves (Moran & Lee 2013: 374). As privatisation, deregulation, and deinstitutionalisation were promoted and implemented, consumerism and individualism have been encouraged and commended both within the UK and outside (Gill & Scharff 2011; Stevenson, Leontowitsch & Duggan 2009). As part of the neoliberal agenda, many areas of social provision are receiving less state support and healthcare and wellbeing are increasingly framed in terms of individual responsibility rather than as pertaining to the domain of public services (Petersen & Lupton 1996). As Featherstone (1991: 183) has argued, neoliberalism’s “health education movement” has attempted to create an environment in which people are individually responsible for their health and appearance. Increasingly, government policies construct patients as self-reliant experts since every citizen must actively engage in and accept responsibility for their wellbeing (Rose 2001; Stevenson et al. 2009; Williams, Gabe & Davis 2009).
Creating and Selling the Malleable Body
Ageing people in particular are addressed by a discourse of responsibility as “costly old age is seen to drain government-funded health and welfare systems” (Jones 2008: 86; cf. Garnham 2013). Various studies have indicated that media discourses, in line with political and medical ones, also posit people – particularly women – as responsible for their ageing process. In her study of ideology and discourses of control in skincare product marketing in magazines aimed at women, Coupland (2003: 137), for example, highlights how “features and advertisements [for skincare products] work to persuade women readers that they must take responsibility for controlling or reversing the bodily signs of ageing, specifically by using skincare beauty products marketed on that basis”. In a later study of anti-ageing adverts in a women’s lifestyle magazine, Smirnova (2012: 1236) found a similar discourse of “a will to youth”. As a part of this, women were presented as both victims of the ageing process and as heroes who must want to adopt anti-ageing strategies. Considering that both adverts for cosmetic procedures and those for (other) beauty products are fraught with anti-ageing narratives, later chapters will elaborate on the theme of ageing as found in the magazine data.
1.3 Masculine and Feminine Bodies in Lifestyle Magazines and the Beauty Market
Whereas a wealth of (feminist) literature focuses on the representation of the female body in lifestyle magazines (cf. Duffy 2013; Moeran 2010) and women’s discussions of cosmetic procedures and (other) beauty products/ services (cf. Davis 1994; Gimlin 2007; Polonijo & Carpiano 2008), fewer studies have focused on the beauty market for men. This relative lack of academic interest is unsurprising as it is widely believed that men spend less resources – both in terms of time and money – on beautification (Connell 2005: 248). However, as will be discussed in this section, although men’s participation in the beauty market may indeed be lower than women’s, it would be wrong to discard it altogether. Moreover, masculinity as a concept is changing “as many men re-evaluate their appearance, re-position themselves as consumers of fashion and style products, and ultimately re-construct their idea of what it is to be male” (Harrison 2008: 56).
1.3.1 From Ideal to Real and from Dude to Dud
As Robert Goldman points out in Reading Ads Socially (1992), the media have faced three major issues since the 1980s in the form of problems of sign saturation, issues of viewer scepticism, and having to respond to feminist (and other social) critiques. In an attempt to overcome the latter issue, marketing – and consequently also lifestyle magazines – has presented (commodified) femininity and feminism together in adverts to demonstrate that they need not be mutually exclusive (Gill 2008). In addition to this merge of concepts to (re)gain their audience, several marketers
Creating and Selling the Malleable Body 13
have responded to critiques of presenting photo-shopped female models of a similar body type; initiatives such as Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign, for example, emphasise the use of ‘real women’5 of all sizes to promote their brand and products. Despite these brands’ apparent concern with women’s body image, some scepticism is required as advertising is particularly sensitive to society’s ever-changing ‘pulse’ and draws on whatever is popular (and therefore profitable) at the time (cf. Lazar 2006).
Despite the alleged changes in the beauty advertising landscape, recent research on the representation of women in adverts indicates that women may still be portrayed in stereotypical roles or positions. Conley and Ramsey (2011: 470), for example, found that “advertisers suggest either through words or images (to a greater extent than men) [that women] should take up as little space as possible, reduce the amount of space they take up, or be as unnoticeable as possible”. Moreover, research by the Innovation Group and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (2017) has pointed out that women still have systematically less screenand speaking time in video adverts when compared to men.
It is not only advertising that has attracted criticism for the manner in which it represents women; magazines, especially women’s lifestyle magazines, have also been scrutinised for presenting a largely unattainable beauty ideal. In response to some of these critiques, Hearst Magazines UK, the producers of some of the UK’s most popular magazines (e.g. Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Men’s Health, and Red), recently launched Hearst Empowering Women, a “brand celebrating the lives, aspirations and achievements of British women” (Jones 2014). Featuring inspirational stories around body confidence, careers, relationships, and health, the idea behind the campaign’s website is to contribute to help women “achieve their goals and break down the barriers that may prevent them from doing so” (ibid). Naturally this campaign is not isolated – increasingly the focus of women’s magazines has shifted to achieving (body) confidence through acceptance rather than rejection of certain features (cf. Elias, Gill & Scharff’s (2017) discussion of ‘love your body’ and ‘femvertizing’). The monthly editions of the UK version of Cosmopolitan, for example, advocate the idea that “every body’s a winner” (Louise Court, editor-in-chief, April 2015) and report on different beauty ideals across the world (April 2015: pp. 70–74), and under the tag “love your body” the reader is presented with various images and ideas of all the forms beauty may take. Moreover, as will be discussed in more depth in one of the following chapters, Cosmopolitan launched Cosmo Body, an offshoot that promoted a healthy body (image) which only had a very limited amount of advertising undermining the general discourse of body acceptance.
Contrary to the women’s magazine market’s alleged ‘break’ from rigid ideals and a widely advocated diversity in representations of women, men are increasingly faced with a single body standard that is presented across the media (Gianatasio 2013). However, as with developments
in advertising targeted at women, there have been a few marketing initiatives that acknowledge male diversity; male grooming brand Lynx, for example, recently launched the “find your magic” campaign, which legitimises a plurality in attractive, individual masculinities (cf. Kemp 2017; Roderick 2015).
As indicated above, it has long been presumed that (heterosexual) men are not interested in beautifying or altering their body – in fact, they have been expected to be largely indifferent to their appearance (see Connell 2005; Davis 2002; Edwards 2003; and Ricciardelli, Clow & White 2010). However, in light of social and political changes, combined with increased urbanisation and industrialisation (cf. Kimmel 2010, 2013), masculinities are being re-defined and it is becoming increasingly acceptable and expected for men to engage in appearance-enhancing practices. Although, for reasons of space, I shall not be able to detail the various social and political developments that have led to the reconceptualisation – or even ‘crisis’ (cf. Mackinnon 2003; Whitehead 2002) – of masculinities, I will elaborate on recent (commodified) masculinities such as the ‘New Man’ and the ‘metrosexual’, particularly in relation to male lifestyle magazines. As Benwell (2003: 8) has commented, men’s magazines have played a pivotal role in redefinitions of masculinities as they form a site for discussion of male roles, expectations, and ideals whilst simultaneously offering representations of masculinities. Moreover, around the turn of the 21th century, magazines were able to offer “fixed answers for men feeling insecure about the changing and confusing gender roles in postmodern consumer society” (Alexander 2003: 546).
Even though men’s magazines have a long history, the male lifestyle magazine genre is relatively new and (re)entered the UK in the late 1980s (Crewe 2003). In contrast to previous magazines which provided information on men’s hobbies and activities, recent male lifestyle magazines have emphasised men’s appearance and promote a consumerist personality for the ‘New Man’ or ‘metrosexual’6 (cf. Edwards 1997: 73; Jackson et al. 2001). The concept of the ‘New Man’ was born out of various social movements and phenomena (e.g. gay liberation, feminism, and punk culture) and stipulates a sensitive, emotionally aware, egalitarian (albeit somewhat narcissistic) masculinity (Gill 2003: 37–45). In their study of portrayals of masculinity in Canadian lifestyle magazines targeting the New Man, Ricciardelli et al. (2010: 65–74) found that the overall message conveyed in these men’s lifestyle magazines promoted consumption as a means for men to alter their embodied selves to become more like the ideal they (should) strive for.
Despite being lauded by some, the New Man was soon condemned for being ‘too feminine’ and ambiguous in sexual orientation. Advanced by the launch of loaded magazine in 1994, a growing countermovement rejected the New Man and instead promoted the ‘New Lad’ – a hedonistic post-/antifeminist man concerned with ‘stereotypically masculine interests’ such as beer, football, and women (cf. Gill 2003; Ricciardelli
Creating and Selling the Malleable Body 15 et al. 2010). Related to the New Lad is the concept of hypermasculinity, which captures some of the exaggerated ideas of what it means to be a man such as the belief that certain forms of violence are manly and the conception that danger is exciting (cf. Vokey, Tefft & Tysiaczny 2013). In their study of hypermasculine portrayals in magazine adverts in the US, Vokey et al. (2013: 564) found hypermasculinity markers to be particularly prevalent in magazines targeting adolescents and young adults from a low socioeconomic background, as they are more likely to employ these markers in order to gain power and resources. This finding is echoed in several other studies that have concluded that men from a working-class background are more likely to “seek powerful bodies to compensate for a lack of occupational power” (Vigorito & Curry 1998: 138). Interestingly, as will be discussed in Chapter 8, advertising and editorial features in FHM – a magazine that targets men from a lower socioeconomic background – included various stereotypical (hyper)masculine markers.
Despite often being identified and presented as different categories, the New Man and New Lad ideologies present similarities and are often merged in contemporary men’s magazines. For example, despite a statement by original editor James Brown that “grooming is for horses”, loaded magazine, the prototype of laddish culture, adopted a section on ‘grooming’ (Gauntlett 2008: 160). Echoing Tan et al.’s (2013: 75) analysis of men’s lifestyle magazines from Taiwan, China, and the US, it seems to be the case that “the defining characteristic of global hegemonic masculinity is commodity consumption…”.
So far, the discussion of men’s magazines and changing masculinities has focused mainly on representations of men. However, there has been a growing interest in looking at audience responses to investigate how men consume, understand, and interact with the concept of masculinities as constructed in a variety of media (cf. Hall 2014). Wienke (1998) was one of the pioneers in looking at how a male audience interprets and potentially internalises body ideals presented in the media (especially mesomorphic, i.e. muscular, physiques). On the basis of in-depth interviews, Wienke (1998: 277) found that men negotiate the meaning of cultural ideals and adjust, reformulate, and sometimes even reject the ideals based on their own appearance and socioeconomic status. For example, people who conform to the muscular beauty ideal presented in the media were more likely to accept a mesomorphic physique as ideal.
Alongside research on the representation and experience of masculinities in male lifestyle magazines, other studies have focused on male discourses of the body and grooming practices more generally. Gill, Henwood and McLean (2005), for example, conducted interviews with 140 young British males to discover how these men discussed their bodies and bodily practices. Overall, the men displayed a sense of detachment and rejected the idea of vanity; those men who used skincare products “justified [this use] in instrumental terms, rather than in relation to their appearance” (ibid: 50). Gill et al.’s findings are reflected in research by
16 Creating and Selling the Malleable Body
Coupland (2007), which has indicated that “consumerized male narcissism is enabled by ironic, ‘uncommitted’ discourses”. As will become clear in Chapter 8, the men participating in the (group) interviews for this project also employed various techniques to distance themselves from being seen as (too) invested in beauty practices.
1.3.2 Gay and Heterosexual Male Identities
Within an account of body- and/or appearance-related masculinities, a consideration of homo- and heterosexual identities is imperative as both marketing and academic literatures have long stipulated that gay men show greater involvement in the fashion and beauty industries. Before discussing homo- and heterosexual identities it must be acknowledged that these identities do not constitute a binary distinction but rather exist on a continuum; however, as many of the marketing agencies and lifestyle magazines adopt a binary understanding of hetero- and gay identities, I follow this example here.
Various early Key Note marketing reports have argued that gay men form a significant target audience for beauty brands as they are more interested in these products than heterosexual men and allegedly have a greater disposable income (Tambe 2003). Providing a possible explanation for this greater involvement, academic research conducted by Chi (2015), Jankowski et al. (2014), and Lanzieri and Cook (2013) has indicated that gay male culture puts greater emphasis on appearance and physical attractiveness than heterosexual male culture. Nevertheless, contrary to expectations, in an analysis of lifestyle magazines aimed at both hetero- and gay men, Jankowski et al. (2014) found no significant difference in the number of articles related to appearance; what is more, the gay men’s lifestyle magazines featured fewer adverts related to appearance than the straight men’s magazines. In line with comments in the previous section, it appears that men – regardless of sexual orientation – are being persuaded by a consumption ethos (Moss 2011).
Notes
1 Also see Coupland and Gwyn (2003).
2 For a more elaborate discussion on the use and usefulness of the concept of ‘neoliberalism’, see David Block’s (2018) Political Economy and Sociolinguistics: Neoliberalism, Inequality and Social Class
3 It is important to note here that signs can never be completely free-floating as they are constructed and directed by “factors such as agenda setting and shared cultural history, social value, economic organization, political institutions, and practices that are directive in steering interpretations” (Wodak & Busch 2004: 453).
4 Related to dualist/non-dualist understandings of the body, we can refer to either ‘having’ or ‘being’ a body respectively.
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The main building of this latter palace was only one story high, on purpose, it seems, that the Empress should not be annoyed by staircases. Here her rooms were larger than in the Winter Palace, especially the study in which she received the reports. In the first days of May she always went incognito to Tsárskoe Seló, and from there she returned, also incognito, in September to the Winter Palace. Her apartments in Tsárskoe Seló were quite large and tastefully furnished. All know the magnificent gallery in which the Empress frequently took a walk, particularly on Sundays when the park was filled with a large crowd of people that used to come down from St. Petersburg. She received the reports in the cabinet, or in the sleeping-room.
The Empress’s time and occupations were arranged in the following manner: She rose at seven, and was busy writing in her cabinet until nine (her last work was on the Senate Regulations). She once remarked in her conversation that she could not live a day without writing something. During that time she drank one cup of coffee, without cream. At nine o’clock she passed into the sleepingroom, where almost in the entrance from the boudoir she seated herself in a chair near the wall. Before her stood a table that slanted towards her and also to the opposite direction, where there was also a chair. She then generally wore a sleeping-gown, or capote, of white gros de Tours, and on her head a white crêpe bonnet which was poised a little towards the left. In spite of her sixty-five years, the Empress’s face was still fresh, her hands beautiful, her teeth all well preserved, so that she spoke distinctly, without lisping, only a little masculinely. She read with eyeglasses and a magnifying glass. Having once been called in with my reports, I found her reading in this way. She smiled and said to me: “You, no doubt, do not need this apparatus! How old are you?” And when I said: “Twenty-six,” she added: “But we have, in our long service to the Empire, dulled our vision, and now we are of necessity compelled to use glasses.” It appeared to me that “we” was used by her not as an expression of majesty, but in the ordinary sense.
Upon another occasion she handed me an autograph note which contained some references for her Senate Regulations for
verification, and said: “Laugh not at my Russian orthography I will tell you why I have not succeeded in mastering it. When I came here, I applied myself diligently to the study of Russian. When my aunt, Elizabeth Petróvna, heard of this, she told my Court mistress that I ought not to be taught any more,—that I was clever enough anyway. Thus, I could learn Russian only from books, without a teacher, and that is the cause of my insufficient knowledge of orthography.” However, the Empress spoke quite correct Russian, and was fond of using simple native words, of which she knew a great number. “I am very happy,” she said to me, “that you know the order of the Chancery. You will be the first executor of my Regulations before the Senate. But I caution you that the Chancery of the Senate has overpowered the Senate, and that I wish to free it from the Chancery. For any unjust decisions, my punishment for the Senate shall be: let them be ashamed!” I remarked that not only the Senate, but also other bureaus that are guided by the General Reglement, are hampered in the transaction of their business by great inconveniences and difficulties that demand correction. “I should like very much to see those inconveniences and difficulties of which you speak to me in such strong terms. The General Reglement is one of the best institutions of Peter the Great.” Later on, I presented to her Highness my notes upon the General Reglement, which I read to her almost every afternoon of her residence in Tsárskoe Seló in 1796, and which were honoured by her undivided august approval. (These notes must be deposited with other affairs in the Archives of the Foreign College.)
After occupying her seat, of which I spoke above, the Empress rang a bell, and the valet of the day, who uninterruptedly remained outside the door, entered and, having received his order, called in the persons. At that time of the day, the Chief Master of Police and the Secretary of State waited daily in the boudoir; at eleven o’clock there arrived Count Bezboródko; for the other officers certain days in the week were set apart: for the Vice-Chancellor, Governor, Government Procurator of the Government of St. Petersburg, Saturday; for the Procurator-General, Monday and Thursday; Wednesday for the Superior Procurator of the Synod and Master General of Requests; Thursday for the Commander-in-Chief of St.
Petersburg. But in important and urgent cases, all these officers could come any other time to report.
The first one to be called in to the Empress was the Chief Master of Police, Brigadier Glázov. He made a verbal report on the safety of the capital and other occurrences, and presented a note, written at the office irregularly and badly on a sheet of paper, containing the names of arrivals and departures on the previous day of people of all conditions who had taken the trouble to announce their names at the toll-house, for the sentinels stopped no one at the toll-house, nor inquired anything of them,—in fact there existed then no toll-gates; anybody received a passport from the Governor at any time he asked for it, and without any pay, and could leave the city whenever he wished: for this reason the list of arrivals and departures never could be very long. After the Chief Master of Police left, the Secretaries of State who had any business had themselves announced by the valet, and were let in one by one. I was one of them. Upon entering the sleeping-room, I observed the following ceremony: I made a low obeisance to the Empress, to which she responded with a nod of her head, and smilingly gave me her hand, which I took and kissed, and I felt the pressure of my own hand; then she commanded me to take a seat. Having seated myself on the chair opposite, I placed my papers on the slanting table, and began to read. I suppose the other reporting officers acted in the same way, when they entered the room of the Empress, and that they met with the same reception.
About eleven o’clock the other officers arrived with their reports, as mentioned above, and sometimes there came Field-Marshal Count Suvórov Rýmnikski, who then, after the conquest of Poland, resided at St. Petersburg. When he entered, he first prostrated himself three times before the image of the Holy Virgin of Kazán, which stood in the corner, to the right of the door, and before which there burned an undying lamp; then he turned to the Empress, prostrated himself once before her, though she tried to keep him from it, and, taking him by the hand, lifted him and said: “Mercy! Alexander Vasílevich, are you not ashamed to act like that?” But the hero worshipped her and regarded it as his sacred duty to express his devotion to her in that
manner The Empress gave him her hand, which he kissed as a relic, and asked him to seat himself on the chair opposite her; two minutes later she dismissed him. They used to tell that Count Bezboródko and a few others prostrated themselves in the same way before her, but not before the Holy Virgin.
At these audiences in the Winter and Tauric Palaces, the military officers wore uniforms, with their swords and shoes, but boots on holidays; civil officers wore during week-days simple French coats, but on holidays gala dresses; but at Tsárskoe Seló, both the military and civilians wore dress-coats on week-days, and only on holidays the former put on uniforms, and the latter French coats with their swords.
The Empress was busy until noon, after which her old hairdresser, Kozlóv, dressed her hair in her interior boudoir. She wore her hair low and very simple; it was done up in the old fashion, with small locks behind her ears. Then she went into the boudoir, where we all waited for her; our society was then increased by four spinsters who came to serve the Empress at her toilet. One of them, M. S Aleksyéev, passed some ice to the Empress, who rubbed her face with it, probably in order to show that she did not like any other washes; another, A. A. Polokúchi, pinned a crêpe ornament to her hair, and the two sisters Zvyerév handed her the pins. This toilet lasted not more than ten minutes, and during that time the Empress conversed with some one of the persons present, among whom there was often the Chief Equerry, Lev Sergyéevich Narýshkin, and sometimes Count Strogonóv, who were her favourite society. Having bid the company good-bye, the Empress returned with her maids into the sleeping-room, where she dressed herself for dinner, with their aid and with the aid of Márya Sávishna, while we all went home. On week-days the Empress wore simple silk dresses, which were all made almost according to the same pattern, and which were known as Moldavian; the upper garment was usually of lilac or greyish colour, and without her decorations,—her lower garment white; on holidays she wore a brocade gown, with three decorations—the crosses of St. Andrew, St. George and St. Vladímir, and sometimes
she put on all the sashes that belong to these decorations, and a small crown; she wore not very high-heeled shoes.
Her dinner was set for two o’clock. During the week there were generally invited to dinner, of ladies, the Maid of Honour Protásov and Countess Branítski; of gentlemen, Adjutant-General P. V. Pássek, A. A. Narýshkin, Count Strogonóv, the two French emigrants, the good Count Esterházy and the black Marquis de Lambert, at times Vice-Admiral Ribas, Governor-General of the Polish provinces Tutolmín, and finally the Marshal of the Court, Prince Baryatínski. On holidays there were invited also other military and civil officers who lived in St. Petersburg, down to the fourth class, and, on special celebrations, down to the sixth class. The ordinary dinner of the Empress did not last more than an hour. She was very abstemious in her food: she never breakfasted, and at dinner she tasted with moderation of not more than three or four courses; she drank only a glass of Rhine or Hungarian wine; she never ate supper. For this reason she was, in spite of her sixty-five years and industrious habits, quite well and lively. At times, indeed, her legs swelled and sores were opened up, but that only served to purify her humours, consequently was advantageous for her health. It is asserted that her death took place solely through the closing up of these sores.
After dinner all the guests immediately departed. The Empress was left alone: in summer she sometimes took a nap, but in winter never. She sometimes listened, until the evening assembly, to the foreign mail which arrived twice a week; sometimes she read a book, or made cameo imprints on paper; this she did also during the reading of her mail by P A., or Count Markóv, or Popóv; but the latter was rarely invited to read, on account of his poor pronunciation of French, though he was nearly always present in the secretary’s room. At six o’clock there assembled the aforementioned persons, and others of the Empress’s acquaintance whom she specially designated, in order to pass the evening hours. On Hermitage days, which were generally on Thursdays, there was a performance, to which many ladies and gentlemen were invited; after the performance they all went home. On other days the reception was in
the Empress’s apartments. She played rocambole or whist, generally with P. A., E. V. Chertkóv and Count Strogonóv; there were also card-tables for the other guests. At ten o’clock the Empress retired to her inner apartments; at eleven she was in bed, and in all the rooms reigned a deep silence.
Gavrílo Petróvich Kámenev. (1772-1803.)
Kámenev wrote very few poems, and his reputation rests on his ballad Gromvál, which is remarkable for its flowing verse, the first two lines being in dactylic measure, and the last two lines of each stanza in anapests. Its main importance, however, lies in the fact that it was the first successful attempt at Romantic verse in the Russian language. Púshkin said of him: “Kámenev was the first in Russia who had the courage to abandon the classic school, and we Russian Romantic poets must bring a fitting tribute to his memory.”
GROMVÁL
In my mind’s eye I rapidly fly, rapidly piercing the dimness of time; I lift the veil of hoary antiquity, and I see Gromvál on his good horse.
The plumes wave upon his helmet, the tempered arrows clang in his quiver; he is borne over the clear field like a whirlwind, in burnished armour with his sharp spear.
The sun is setting behind the mountains of flint, the evening is descending from the aërial heights. The hero arrives in the murky forest, and only through its tops he sees the sky
The storm, shrouded in sullen night, hastens to the west on sable pinions; the waters groan, the oak woods rustle, and centennial oaks creak and crack.
There is no place to protect oneself against the storm and rain; there is no cave, no house is seen; only through the dense darkness now glistens, now goes out, through the branches of the trees, a little fire in the distance.
With hope in his heart, with daring in his soul, slowly travelling through the forest towards the fire, the hero arrives at the bank of a brook, and suddenly he sees nearby and in front of him a castle.
A blue flame gleams within and reflects the light in the flowing stream; shadows pass to and fro in the windows, and howls and groans issue dully from them.
The knight swiftly dismounts from his horse and goes to the grasscovered gate; he strikes mightily against it with his steel spear, but only echoes in the forest respond to the knocking.
Immediately the fire within the castle goes out, and the light dies in the embrace of darkness; the howls and groans grow silent, too; the storm increases, the rain is doubled.
At the powerful stroke of his mighty hand the firmness of the iron gates gives way: the latches are broken, the hinges creak, and fearless Gromvál goes in.
He unsheathes his sword, ready to strike, and, groping, goes into the castle. Quiet and gloom lie over all, only through the windows and chinks the whirlwind whistles.
The knight cries out in anger and in grief: “Ferocious wizard, greedy Zlomár! You have compelled Gromvál to wander over the world, you have stolen Rognyéda, his companion!
“Many a kingdom and land have I passed, have struck down mighty knights and monsters, have vanquished giants with my mighty hand, but have not yet found my beloved Rognyéda!
“Where do you dwell, evil Zlomár? In wild mountain fastnesses, in caves, in forests, in murky underground passages, in the depth of the sea do you hide her from my view?
“If I find your habitation, wicked magician, evil sorcerer, I will drag Rognyéda out of her captivity, I will pull out your black heart from your breast.”
The knight grows silent, and sleep comes over him. Fatigue and night make him a bed. Without taking off his armour, in the breastplate and helmet, he kneels down and falls into a deep sleep.
The clouds hurry away, and the storm dies down, the stars grow dim, the east grows light; the morning star awakes, Zimtsérla blooms like a crimson rose, but Gromvál is still asleep.
The sun rolls over the vault of heaven, at noon glows with its heated rays, and the pitch of the pines waters through the bark, but sleep still keeps Gromvál in its embrace.
The forerunner of the night with olive brow glances from the east upon the forest and fields, and from an urn sprinkles dew upon the sward; but sleep still keeps Gromvál in its embrace.
Night, with cypress crown upon its head, in a garment woven of darkness and stars, walks frowning, over stairs, to its throne; but sleep still keeps Gromvál in its embrace.
Clouds congest in the vault of heaven, darkness grows thick, midnight comes on; the hero, awakening from his deep sleep, wonders when he sees not the crimson dawn.
Suddenly peals roar in the castle like thunder; the walls shake, the windows rattle, and, as lightnings rapidly flash in the darkness, the hall is made bright with a terrible fire.
All the doors bang loud as they open: in white shrouds, with candles in their hands, shadows appear; behind them skeletons carry in their bony hands an iron coffin.
They place the coffin in the vast hall; immediately the lid flies off, and the wizard Zlomár, O horrible sight! lies breathless within, with open eyes.
The floor opens wide, and a hellish fire rises up in a howling whirlwind and thunder, and, embracing the iron coffin, heats it to a white glow; Zlomár sighs the heavy sigh of Gehenna.
In his wild, fierce, bloodshot eyes terror is painted, despair and grief; from his mouth black foam boils in a cloud, but the magician lies motionless, like a corpse.
The ghosts and skeletons, taking each other’s hands, yell, howl, laugh, whistle; raving in rapturous orgy, they dance a hellish dance around his coffin.
Midnight passes in a terrible entertainment, and their groans and howls thunder ever more horrible. But scarcely has the herald of
morning crowed three times, when ghosts, skeletons and coffin suddenly disappear.
There is darkness as in the grave, and quiet all around; in the forest nearby is silence and gloom. Gromvál perplexed, marvels at the appearance, and wondering does not believe himself.
Suddenly a magic flute is heard, and the sound of the harp strikes his ears: the vault of the hall bursts open, and a rose-coloured beam, with its soft light, dispels dense night.
In a light cloud of fragrant vapours, as if a fresh breeze were blowing and a swan gently gliding high up in the air, a sorceress softly descends into the hall.
Purer than the lily is her garment; her girdle shines on her waist like hyacinth; like the twinkle of the gold-gleaming eastern star, merriment beams in her eyes.
With a pleasant voice Dobráda speaks: “Sad knight, submit to your fate! Zlomár is no longer; fate has for ever cleared the world from that wrongdoer.
“Into the abyss of hell he has been hurled for ever; the jaws of Gehenna have swallowed him; with the gurgling of the lava and the roar of the fire, the abyss alone will hear his howl and groan.
“Death, transgressing the law of nature, has not deprived the magician’s body of feeling: the shades of persons by him destroyed nightly torment him here in the castle.
“Knight, hasten to your Rognyéda! To the south of the forest, in a sandy plain, in a steel prison of Zlomár’s castle, two winged Zilants watch her.
“Accept this magic horn from me; it has the power to close the jaws of monsters. But listen! You cannot save Rognyéda without shedding her blood,—thus the fates have decreed.”
The magic strings sound again; the cloud is wafted upwards with Dobráda. Struck dumb by this speech, and beside himself, Gromvál, like a statue of stone, follows her with his glances.
Holding the emerald horn in his hand, in bitter resentment, the hero exclaims: “Ill-starred gift of the faithless sorceress, you promise happiness to me by the death of Rognyéda!
“No! I tremble at the very thought, and my heart flies a sacrifice to her. But, Gromvál, obey the dictum of fate, and hasten to destroy Zlomár’s sorcery.
“If you cannot save Rognyéda, lay the castle in ruins, vanquish the Zilants,—shed your heroic blood for her, and crown your love with an heroic death!”
A beautiful morning with radiant beam gilds the tops of century oaks. Turning his horse to the midday sun, our knight leaves both the castle and forest.
Ravines, cliffs, rapids, crags, groan under the heavy beats of the hoofs; dense dust like a cloud and whirling in a pillar flies upwards where Gromvál races.
Through the gloomy pass of a rocky mount the knight rides into a vast steppe: an ocean of sand spreads before his view, and in the distance, it seems mingled with the sky.
No wind stirs the sandy waves; heat breathes there its pestiferous breath; no shrubs rustle there, nor brooks babble: all is quiet and still as in the cemetery at midnight.
Through that wilderness, those terrible fields, no road leads, no tracks are seen; only in the east one can discern a steep mountain, and upon it a mighty castle stands out black in the distance.
Struggling three days with thirst and heat, the hero passes the barrier of death; on his worn-out steed, and in a bloody perspiration, he slowly reaches the foot of the mountain.
Over slippery paths on overhanging cliffs that threaten to crash down into the valley, slowly ascending the narrow footpath above an abyss, Gromvál reaches the top and castle.
Zlomár has built this castle with the power of Gehenna and the spirits of Hell. The turrets that tower above black cliffs announce destruction and evil death.
With Rognyéda in his heart, with bravery in his soul, Gromvál, like a fierce storm, breaks the hinges of the cast-iron doors, and with his tempered spear enters the terrible castle.
Furious he advances,—under his mighty heel dead bones and skulls crack; ravens, birds of the night and bats are awakened in the mossy crevices of the walls.
They hover like a cloud above the castle, and their terrible cries shake the air; the Zilants, hearing Gromvál’s arrival, begin to howl and whistle, and flap their wings.
Opening their jaws, they fly against him; their stings issue from their mouths like spears; they rattle their scales, bending their tails, and stretch out their destructive claws from their feet.
The hero blows his emerald horn,—the sound deafens them, and they fall like rocks; their wings are clipt, their jaws are closed; falling into a sleep of death, they lie in mounds.
In rapture the knight flies to the dungeon to embrace Rognyéda with flaming heart; but instead, an enormous door is opened, and a giant, mailed in armour, comes to meet him.
His furious glances are comets in the dark; brass is his corselet, lead his warclub; grey moss of the bog is his beard, a black forest after the storm the hair on his head.
Swinging his club with a terrible might, the giant lets it fall on Gromvál and strikes his valiant head: the echo shakes, reverberating through the castle.
The helmet clangs and is shattered to pieces; sparks issue from his dark eyes. From the stroke the club is bent as a bow, but Gromvál, like a rock, does not move from the spot.
The sword flashes in his heroic hand, and strikes the wretch like a thunderbolt; his strong brass would have broken to splinters, but the blade glides down his magic coat of mail.
The giant roars in evil madness, breathes flames, trembles with anger; he swells the muscles of his powerful shoulders, and threatens to crush Gromvál in his claws.
Death is unavoidable, destruction near; his terrible hands touch his corselet; but Gromvál, seizing his leg like an oak, makes him totter, and brings him to his fall.
The giant falls like a crumbling tower, and shakes all the castle with his terrible cry; the walls recede, the battlements fall; he is prostrate on the ground, and has dug a grave in the damp earth.
Grasping his throat with his mighty hand, Gromvál thrusts his sword into his jaws; the giant’s teeth gnash against the steel; he roars and groans, and writhes in convulsions.
Black foam and crimson blood lash and gush from his mouth; furious with suffering, battling with death, he digs the earth with his feet, trembles, lies in the agony of death.
Mingling in a boiling stream the giant’s blood wells up; a gentle vapour, rising from it in a cloud, forms the outline of fair Rognyéda.
The roses in her cheeks, the charm in her eyes, the crimson lips beckon for a kiss; her hair, falling like velvet over her shoulders, veils her swan’s breast.
Gromvál marvels at this miracle: does he see a vision or a real being? Approaching her with hope and hesitation, he presses not a dream, but Rognyéda to his breast.
Filled with passionate rapture, Gromvál addresses his love with tender words: “Long, oh, long have I sought you, Rognyéda, and have, like a shadow, wandered over the wide world!”
Drawing a deep breath, she says: “The evil magician, the cunning Zlomár, impelled by his despicable passion, brought me to this enchanted castle.
“Here he touched me with his magic wand, and deprived me of memory and feelings. Falling immediately into a mysterious trance, I have ever since been shrouded in deepest darkness.”
Taking Rognyéda by her hand, Gromvál softly descends to the foot of the mountain. He seats her behind him on his steed, and like an arrow flies back on the road.
Deep darkness covers the castle; thunders roar furiously in the night; stormy whirlwinds, tearing themselves away from their chains, howl, and the flinty ribs of the rock tremble.
With a terrible roar the earth bursts open, and the towers fall into the bottomless abyss; the Zilants, dungeon, giants are overthrown: Gromvál has vanquished the magic of Zlomár.
Vladisláv Aleksándrovich Ózerov. (1770-1816.)
Ózerov entered the military school when a child, left it as a lieutenant in 1788, and then was made adjutant to the director of the school, Count Anhalt, who died in 1794. His first literary venture was an In Memoriam to the director, written in French. He then tried himself in odes and shorter songs, of which only the Hymn to the God of Love rises above mediocrity. He scored his first great success in his tragedy Œdipus at Athens, which produced a stirring effect upon the audience. This was followed by Fingal, the subject being from Ossian. But the drama that most affected his generation was Dimítri Donskóy, which appeared opportunely on the eve of Napoleon’s invasion, in 1807. The element of tearfulness, or “sentimentality,” as Karamzín called it, which Ózerov was the first to introduce into the Russian tragedy, and the patriotic subject which he developed in his Dimítri Donskóy combined to make his plays very popular, though his verse is rather heavy and artificial.
DIMÍTRI DONSKÓY
ACT I., SCENE I. DIMÍTRI AND THE OTHER PRINCES, BOYÁRS AND GENERALS
Dimítri. Russian princes, boyárs, generals, you who have crossed the Don to find liberty and, at last, to cast off the yokes that have been forced upon us! How long were we to endure the dominion of the Tartars in our land, and, content with an humble fate, sit as slaves on our princely throne? Two centuries had nearly passed when Heaven in its anger sent that scourge against us; for almost two centuries the foes, now openly, now hidden, like hungry ravens, like insatiable wolves, have been destroying, burning, plundering us. I have called you here to avenge us: the time has now come to repay the foe for our calamities. The Kipchák horde has, like a gigantic
burden, been lying on Russian shoulders, spreading desolation and terror all around, but now, heavy by its own weight, it has fallen to pieces. Civil strife, dissension and all the ills which heretofore had brought the Russian land to utter weakness, have now penetrated the horde. New khans have arisen who have torn themselves loose from it; but the insatiable tyrants, having barely risen, threaten our land. The most insatiable of them and most cunning, Mamáy, the accursed ruler of the Trans-Don horde, has risen against us in an unjust war. He is hurrying against us, and perhaps with to-morrow’s dawn will appear before our camp. But seeing the sudden union of the Russian forces, his heart was disturbed, and his mind misgave him, so he decided to send first an embassy to us. Friends of Dimítri, do you advise to receive them? Or, remaining firm in our heroic intention, shall we answer Mamáy in front of our army, when the first bold onslaught of the Russians would resound upon the earth and would frighten the Tartars?
Tverskóy. Let us give the answer before the army in the field of battle! None of us, O princes, can be more anxious than I to avenge ourselves on the inhuman foe. Whose family can compare with the Tverskóys in misfortunes they have borne? My grandfather and his sire, after endless tortures, lay their heads in the graves through the treachery of the infidel, and their ashes groan under the power of the horde. Grand Prince of Russia, you have called us hither not to enter into parley with Mamáy, but to decide in battle and end all discord with him....
Byelózerski. Oh, how happy am I to have lived to see this day, to contemplate here the concord and love among the princes, and the unanimous zeal in your hearts against the enemy! I, about to bear my age into the yawning grave, will be able to bring hope to the departed fathers, that the honour of the Russian land is to be reinstated, that her power and glory is to return. O shades of Vladímir, and you, shades of Yarosláv, ancestral heads of princely houses! In the lap of the angels you will rejoice, as you foresee the blessed time when the disunited nation of Russian tribes, uniting with one soul into one whole, will triumphantly appear a threatening giant, and united Russia will give laws to the world! Dimítri, your victory is
certain! No, never before has such an army been gathered in so farreaching a camp, either by your grandfather Iván, or Simeón the Terrible, or your meek father! I, the old leader of the forces of Byelózersk, have never seen Russia lead out such numbers of bold warriors. Of all the Russian princes, Olég alone has remained in idleness at Ryazán, and without interest in the expedition; his ear alone is deaf to the common groan. May the memory of those perish whose spirit can with quiet eye see the country’s woes, or rather, let their name with disgrace and endless shame pass to late posterity! Yet, my lord, however flattering your success may be, my advice is to receive the Tartar embassy, and if we can establish peace by paying a tribute to Mamáy.... (All the princes express dissatisfaction.)
Dimítri. O Prince of Byelózersk, what do you propose? Fearing strife, to acknowledge the Tartar’s power by paying a shameful tribute?
Byelózerski. To spare the priceless Christian blood. If we conquer Mamáy, look out, the hordes will once more unite for our common woe; beware, this temporarily successful exploit will again rouse their ambitious spirit, and they will perceive at last how injurious for their ambition their strife is, which separates their khans. The murders, fire, slaughter of wives and children which the Tartars have perpetrated against us, in their opinion, give the hordes a right over us. They deem Russia to be their patrimony. Seeing our bravery, they will stop their disorders, and will soon, united, bring misery on the Russians. Rather give them a chance to weaken in their destructive discord; let us gather strength in the peaceful quiet and, warding off the chances of war, choose peace instead of useless victory
Dimítri. Oh, better death in battle than dishonourable peace! Thus our ancestors thought, thus we, too, will think. Those times are past when timid minds saw in the Tartars a tool of Heaven, which it is senseless and improper to oppose. In our days honour and the very voice of faith arm us against the tormentors. That voice, that prophetic voice of faith, proclaims to us that an immortal crown awaits the fallen in battle, that through the grave they pass to eternal joy. O Sérgi, pastor of souls, whom the groans of fellow-citizens have
so often disturbed in your hermit prayers, and whose tears have so abundantly flowed lamenting the fate of the innocent, O you who with sacred hand blessed us for the impending battle! In your hermit cell, where you pass your humble days, listen to my words: inspired by you, they will inflame the Russian hearts to seek here liberty or the heavenly crown! ’Tis better to cease living, or not to be born at all, than to submit to the yoke of a foreign tribe, than with the name of payers of tribute to flatter their greed. Can we with such slavery avert our misfortunes? He who pays a tribute is weak; he who evinces a weak spirit invites arrogant lust to insult. But I am ready to receive the Khan’s messenger and to bring him before the assembly of the princes, not to listen to the shameless propositions of Tartar arrogance, but to announce to him the resolve for war, that he may read valour in our brows, and, shuddering, bear terror into Mamáy’s camp.
Smolénski. The whole assembly announces assent to your advice.
Dimítri. The messenger awaits the decision near the tent. You, Brénski, bring in the Tartars that have come to us!
