# Camp (style)

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Ostentatious style and sensibility

"Campy" redirects here. For other uses, see [Campy (disambiguation)](/source/Campy_(disambiguation)).

***Camp*** is an [aesthetic](/source/Aesthetics) and sensibility that regards something as appealing or amusing because of its heightened level of artifice, affectation and exaggeration,[1][2][3] especially when there is also a playful or [ironic](/source/Irony) element.[4][5] *Camp* is historically associated with [LGBTQ culture](/source/LGBTQ_culture) and especially [gay men](/source/Gay_men).[2][6][7][8] *Camp aesthetics* disrupt [modernist](/source/Modernism) understandings of [high art](/source/High_art) by inverting traditional aesthetic judgements of beauty, value, and taste, and inviting a different kind of aesthetic engagement.[6]

*Camp art* is distinct from but often confused with [kitsch](/source/Kitsch)*.* The big difference between *camp* and kitsch is mainly that *camp* is aware of its artificiality and pretense.[9]

The American writer [Susan Sontag](/source/Susan_Sontag) emphasized *camp*'s key elements as embracing frivolity, excess and artifice.*[10]* Art historian [David Carrier](/source/David_Carrier) notes that, despite these qualities, it is also [subversive](/source/Subversion) and political.[11] *Camp* may be sophisticated,[12] but subjects deemed *camp* may also be perceived as being dated, offensive or in [bad taste](/source/Bad_taste_(aesthetics)).[13][5] *Camp* may also be divided into *high* and *low* *camp* (i.e., *camp* arising from serious versus unserious matters), or alternatively into *naive* and *deliberate camp* (i.e., *accidental* versus *intentional camp*).[3][12][14][15] While author and academic Moe Meyer defines *camp* as a form of "queer parody",[7][8] journalist [Jack Babuscio](/source/Jack_Babuscio) argues it is a specific "gay sensibility" which has often been "misused to signify the trivial, superficial and 'queer'".[16]

*Camp*, as a particular style or set of [mannerisms](/source/Mannerisms), may serve as a marker of identity, such as in *camp talk*, which expresses a gay male identity.[17] This *camp style* is associated with [incongruity](/source/Theories_of_humor#Incongruity_theory) or [juxtaposition](/source/Juxtaposition), theatricality, and [humour](/source/Humour),[18] and has appeared in film, [cabaret](/source/Cabaret), and [pantomime](/source/Pantomime).[19][20][21] Both [high](/source/High_culture) and [low forms of culture](/source/Low_culture) may be *camp*,[3][22][8] but where high art incorporates beauty and value, *camp* often strives to be lively, audacious and dynamic.[6] *Camp* can also be [tragic](/source/Tragedy), [sentimental](/source/Sentimentality) and ironic, finding beauty or [black comedy](/source/Black_comedy) even in suffering.[19] The humour of *camp*, as well as its frivolity, may serve as a [coping mechanism](/source/Coping) to deal with [intolerance](/source/Homophobia) and [marginalization](/source/Social_exclusion) in society.[5][23]

## Origins and development

The *[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)* notes that the word *camp* was used as a verb since at least the 1500s.[24] Writer Bruce Rodgers also traces the term *camp* to the 16th century, specifically to British theatre, where it referred to men dressed as women ([drag](/source/Drag_(entertainment))).[5][25] *Camp* may have derived from the gay slang [Polari](/source/Polari),[26] which borrowed the term from the Italian *campare*, "to live, to get by",[27][22] or from the French term *se camper*, meaning "to pose in an exaggerated fashion".[28][29] A similar sense is also found in French theatre in [Molière](/source/Moli%C3%A8re)'s 1671 play *[Les Fourberies de Scapin](/source/Les_Fourberies_de_Scapin)*.[15]

Writer [Susan Sontag](/source/Susan_Sontag) and linguist [Paul Baker](/source/Paul_Baker_(linguist)) place the "soundest starting point" for the modern sense of *camp*, meaning *flamboyant*, as the late 17th and early 18th centuries.[30][31] Writer [Anthony Burgess](/source/Anthony_Burgess) theorized it may have emerged from the primary sense of the word, as in a military encampment, where gay men would subtly advertise their sexuality in all-male company through a particular style and affectation.[32]

By 1870, British [crossdresser](/source/Crossdresser) [Frederick Park](/source/Boulton_and_Park) referred to his "campish undertakings" in a letter produced in evidence at his examination before a magistrate at [Bow Street](/source/Bow_Street), London, on suspicion of illegal homosexual acts; the letter does not make clear what these were.[33]

Report of the ticket for a Salford drag ball in 1874

In 1874, the *Manchester Courier* printed the description of a ticket for a Salford [drag ball](/source/Drag_ball), called the "Queen of Camp" ball.[34][35][a] According to the *Oxford English Dictionary*, the first definitive use of *camp* as an adjective in print occurred in the writing of J. R. Ware in 1909.[24] In the UK's pre-[liberation](/source/Gay_liberation) [gay culture](/source/Gay_culture), the term was used as a general description of the aesthetic choices and behavior of working-class [gay men](/source/Gay_men).[36][37] The term *camp* is still sometimes used in the UK to describe a gay man who is perceived as outwardly garish or eccentric, such as [Matt Lucas](/source/Matt_Lucas)'s character [Daffyd Thomas](/source/Daffyd_Thomas) in the English comedy skit show *[Little Britain](/source/Little_Britain_(sketch_show))*.[38]

From the mid-1940s, numerous representations of *camp speech* or *camp* *talk*, as used by gay men, began to appear in print in America, France and the United Kingdom.[17] By the mid-1970s, camp was defined by the college edition of *[Webster's New World Dictionary](/source/Webster's_New_World_Dictionary)* as "banality, mediocrity, artifice, [and] ostentation ... so extreme as to amuse or have a perversely sophisticated appeal".[39]

[Carmen Miranda](/source/Carmen_Miranda) in the trailer for *[The Gang's All Here](/source/The_Gang's_All_Here_(1943_film))* (1943)

In America, the concept of camp was also described by [Christopher Isherwood](/source/Christopher_Isherwood) in 1954 in his novel *[The World in the Evening](/source/The_World_in_the_Evening)*, and later by [Susan Sontag](/source/Susan_Sontag) in her 1964 essay '[Notes on "Camp"](/source/Notes_on_%22Camp%22)'.[40] Two key components of the "radical spectacle of camp" were originally feminine performances: [swish](/source/Swish_(slang)) and [drag](/source/Drag_(entertainment)).[27] With swish's extensive use of superlatives and drag's exaggerated female impersonation, camp occasionally became extended to all things "over the top", including women posing as female impersonators ([faux queens](/source/AFAB_queen)) such as [Carmen Miranda](/source/Carmen_Miranda), while also retaining its meaning as "queer parody".[7][8][41]

In her study of [drag](/source/Drag_queen), cultural anthropologist [Esther Newton](/source/Esther_Newton) argued that *camp* has three major features: incongruity, theatricality, and humour.[18] In his 1984, writer George Melly argued that the camp sensibility allowed almost anything to be seen as a *camp*, and that this was a way of projecting one's own queer sensibility upon the world to therefore reclaim it. Conversely, he argued, the biggest threat to camp wasn't heterosexuals ("who tend to accept it, although usually at a fairly broad and superficial level"), but "a neo-puritanism, a received conformism" emerging among gay people at the time.[42]

The rise of [postmodernism](/source/Postmodernism) and [queer theory](/source/Queer_theory) has made *camp* a common perspective on aesthetics, not solely identified with gay men.[6][43] Women (especially [lesbians](/source/Lesbian)), trans people, and people of colour have described new forms of *camp*, such as *dyke camp* (including subcategories such as *cubana* and *high-femme dyke camp*)[44][45] and *queer of color camp*.[45][46]

*Camp* has also been a subject of [psychoanalytic theory](/source/Psychoanalytic_theory), where it has been portrayed as a form of performance or *masquerade*. Scholar Cynthia Morrill has argued that the conception of "camp-as-masquerade" ignores the specifically queer sensibility of *camp* by interrogating queerness through a [heteronormative](/source/Heteronormativity) lens (i.e., solely in relation to the [symbol of the phallus](/source/Phallogocentrism)).[43]

*Camp* has become prevalent in mainstream [popular entertainment](/source/Popular_culture) such as theatre, cinema, TV and music.[47][41] In reaction to its popularisation, critics such as [Jack Babuscio](/source/Jack_Babuscio) and Jeanette Cooperman have argued that *camp* requires the [alienation](/source/Social_alienation) of LGBTQ+ people from the mainstream to maintain its edge.[48][49] Poet and scholar Chris Philpot, like Cooperman, nevertheless argues that *camp* can still be a viable "survival strategy" for [marginalized](/source/Social_exclusion) queer people, so long as it evolves with them.[48] Curator Andrew Bolton, after his show *Camp: Notes on Fashion* at the New York [Metropolitan Museum of Art](/source/Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art), explains that context is also important for understanding the power and relevance of camp: "Camp tends to come to the fore through moments of social and political instability, when our society is deeply polarized. The 1960s is one such moment, as were the 1980s, so, too, are the times in which we're living."[49]

## *Camp* in contemporary culture

### Fashion

[Patrick Kelly](/source/Patrick_Kelly_(fashion_designer))'s designs have been described as camp and "Radical Cheek" for his ironic use of bold colours, antiquated or incongruous styles, and reclaimed racist symbols.[50][51] He designed a banana dress in reference to [Josephine Baker](/source/Josephine_Baker) and dedicated a whole collection to her. He used mismatched buttons when creating his own take on a [Chanel](/source/Chanel) suit. By the time he died in 1990, he had dressed noted queer icons such as [Grace Jones](/source/Grace_Jones) and [Isabella Rossellini](/source/Isabella_Rossellini). His grave is marked with a stylized [golliwog](/source/Golliwog)—a reclaimed symbol for his label—featuring big gold earrings and bright red lips.[52][53][50]

Clothing designs from *[Camp: Notes on Fashion](/source/Camp%3A_Notes_on_Fashion)*

The 2019 [Met Gala](/source/Met_Gala)'s theme was [Camp: Notes on Fashion](/source/Camp%3A_Notes_on_Fashion), co-chaired by [Anna Wintour](/source/Anna_Wintour), [Serena Williams](/source/Serena_Williams), [Lady Gaga](/source/Lady_Gaga), [Harry Styles](/source/Harry_Styles), and [Alessandro Michele](/source/Alessandro_Michele).[54] The show featured tributes to [queer](/source/Queer) and camp figures, including a bronze statue of [the Vatican](/source/Vatican_Museums)'s [Belvedere Antinous](/source/Hermes_(Museo_Pio-Clementino)), portraits of [Louis XIV](/source/Louis_XIV) and [Oscar Wilde](/source/Oscar_Wilde), and celebrations of Black and Latinx [ball culture](/source/Ball_culture) and the [Harlem Renaissance](/source/Harlem_Renaissance).[49] [Dapper Dan](/source/Dapper_Dan_(designer))—whose luxurious fashion has been credited with camping up the [hip-hop](/source/Hip_hop_music) genre—designed seven camp outfits for [Gucci](/source/Gucci), worn at the gala by [21 Savage](/source/21_Savage), [Omari Hardwick](/source/Omari_Hardwick), [Regina Hall](/source/Regina_Hall), [Bevy Smith](/source/Bevy_Smith), [Ashley Graham](/source/Ashley_Graham_(model)) and [Karlie Kloss](/source/Karlie_Kloss) (he wore the seventh).[52][55]

Lady Gaga's entrance took 16 minutes, as she arrived to the gala alongside an entourage of five dancers carrying umbrellas, a make up artist, and a personal photographer to snap pictures of Gaga's poses.[56] Gaga arrived in a hot pink [Brandon Maxwell](/source/Brandon_Maxwell) gown with a 25-foot train[57] and went through a series of four "reveals," paying homage to [drag culture](/source/Drag_show),[56] debuting a new outfit each time, until reaching her final look: a bra and underwear with fishnets and platform heels.[58] Other notable ensembles included [Katy Perry](/source/Katy_Perry) wearing a gown that looked like a chandelier, designed by [Moschino](/source/Moschino); and [Kacey Musgraves](/source/Kacey_Musgraves) appearing as a life-size [Barbie](/source/Barbie), also by Moschino.[59]

### Film

Several [melodrama films](/source/Melodrama_film), like [Douglas Sirk](/source/Douglas_Sirk)'s *[Written on the Wind](/source/Written_on_the_Wind)* (1956), have acquired [cult status](/source/Cult_film) because of their unintentional camp content.[60]

[Melodrama films](/source/Melodrama_film) have been celebrated for their unintentional camp content by [gay male culture](/source/Gay_male_culture) long before critics and academics first defined the genre in the 1970s.[60][61] Some writers have even considered the genre to be "cinema made for and by [gay men](/source/Gay_men)."[60] In addition to the films of [Douglas Sirk](/source/Douglas_Sirk) (the greatest exponent of melodrama), several works by [Vincente Minnelli](/source/Vincente_Minnelli), [Nicholas Ray](/source/Nicholas_Ray), [George Cukor](/source/George_Cukor), [Billy Wilder](/source/Billy_Wilder) and [Joseph Losey](/source/Joseph_Losey) acquired [cult status](/source/Cult_status) among gay men because of the "very excessiveness, extreme emotionality, mannered performances, style and very direct sentimental form of address that these films demonstrate".[60] Several features of the family melodrama, later emphasized by film theorists as integral to the subversive and progressive essence of the genre, were precisely the attributes that gay men found humorous.[60] Several later exponents of [gay cinema](/source/Gay_cinema), like [John Waters](/source/John_Waters), [Pedro Almodóvar](/source/Pedro_Almod%C3%B3var), [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](/source/Rainer_Werner_Fassbinder) and [Todd Haynes](/source/Todd_Haynes), among others, have cited campy melodramas as a major influence.[60]

Famous representatives of camp films are, for example, [John Waters](/source/John_Waters) *([Pink Flamingos](/source/Pink_Flamingos), 1972)* and [Rosa von Praunheim](/source/Rosa_von_Praunheim) *([The Bed Sausage](/source/The_Bed_Sausage), 1971)*, who mainly used this style in the 1970s, and who created films which achieved [cult status](/source/Cult_status).[21][62] The 1972 musical *[Cabaret](/source/Cabaret_(1972_film))* is also seen as an example of the aesthetic, with film critic Esther Leslie describing the camp in the film thus:

Camp thrives on tragic gestures, on lament at the transience of life, on an excess of sentiment, an ironic sensibility that art and artifice is preferable to nature and health, in a Wildean sense.[19]

Australian writer/director Baz Luhrmann's [Red Curtain Trilogy](/source/Red_Curtain_Trilogy), in particular the film *[Strictly Ballroom](/source/Strictly_Ballroom)* (1992), has been described as camp.[63]

The term camp is also used prominently in the horror genre, with examples including *[Killer Klowns from Outer Space](/source/Killer_Klowns_from_Outer_Space)[64]* and the [*Evil Dead* franchise](/source/Evil_Dead).[65] Since the 2000s, other horror films reported as camp are *[ThanksKilling](/source/ThanksKilling)* (2008),[66] *[Drag Me to Hell](/source/Drag_Me_to_Hell)* (2009),[67] *[The Burning Dead](/source/The_Burning_Dead)* (2015),[68] *[M3GAN](/source/M3GAN)* (2022),[69] and *[Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea](/source/Hemet%2C_or_the_Landlady_Don't_Drink_Tea)* (2023).[70]

### Literature

“I am strongly drawn to Camp, and almost as strongly offended by it. That is why I want to talk about it, and why I can.”—Essayist [Susan Sontag](/source/Susan_Sontag) in [Notes on "Camp"](/source/Notes_on_%22Camp%22)(1964).[71]

*[Dandyism](/source/Dandy)* is often seen as a precursor to camp, especially as embodied in [Oscar Wilde](/source/Oscar_Wilde) and his work.[15][72] The character of Amarinth in [Robert Hichens](/source/Robert_Hichens_(writer))'s *[The Green Carnation](/source/The_Green_Carnation)* (1894), based on Wilde, uses "camp coding" in his "effusive and inverted" use of language.[18]

The scene where Anthony Blanche arrives late to Sebastian Flyte's lunch party in [Evelyn Waugh](/source/Evelyn_Waugh)'s *[Brideshead Revisited](/source/Brideshead_Revisited)*, has been described by writer George Melly as an example of *camp*'s "alchemical ability" to project a [queer](/source/Queer) sensibility upon the world and unite one's peers in that sensibility.[42]

The first post-World War II use of the word in print may be [Christopher Isherwood](/source/Christopher_Isherwood)'s 1954 novel *The World in the Evening*, where he comments: "You can't camp about something you don't take seriously. You're not making fun of it; you're making fun *out* of it. You're expressing what's basically serious to you in terms of fun and artifice and elegance."[73]

In the American writer [Susan Sontag](/source/Susan_Sontag)'s 1964 essay *[Notes on "Camp"](/source/Notes_on_%22Camp%22)*, Sontag emphasized the embrace of artifice, frivolity, naivety, pretentiousness, offensiveness, and excess as key elements of camp. Examples cited by Sontag included [Tiffany lamps](/source/Tiffany_lamp), the drawings of [Aubrey Beardsley](/source/Aubrey_Beardsley), Tchaikovsky's ballet *[Swan Lake](/source/Swan_Lake)*, and Japanese science fiction films such as [*Rodan*](/source/Rodan_(film)) and *[The Mysterians](/source/The_Mysterians)* of the 1950s.[74] However, critics of Sontag's description, such as art historian [David Carrier](/source/David_Carrier), say that it is outdated and that "her celebration of its ecstatic marginality downplays its implicit subversiveness".[11]

In Mark Booth's 1983 book *Camp*, he defines camp as "to present oneself as being committed to the marginal with a commitment greater than the marginal merits".[75] He makes a distinction between genuine *camp*, and *camp fads and fancies —* things that are not intrinsically camp, but display artificiality, stylization, theatricality, naivety, sexual ambiguity, tackiness, poor taste, stylishness, or camp people, and thus appeal to them.[76]

In his 1984 book *Camp: The Lie That Tells The Truth*, writer and artist [Philip Core](/source/Philip_Core) describes [Jean Cocteau](/source/Jean_Cocteau)'s autobiography as "the definition of camp".[77]

In 1993, journalist [Russell Davies](/source/Russell_Davies) published comedian [Kenneth Williams](/source/Kenneth_Williams)'s diaries. Williams's diary entry for 1 January 1947 reads: "Went to Singapore with Stan—very camp evening, was followed, but tatty types so didn't bother to make overtures."[78]

### Music

Camp costuming worn by American pop singers [Cher](/source/Cher), [Madonna](/source/Madonna), and [Katy Perry](/source/Katy_Perry)

American singer and actress [Cher](/source/Cher) is one of the artists who received the title of "Queen of Camp" through her colourful on-stage fashion and live performances.[79] She gained this status in the 1970s when she launched her [variety shows](/source/Variety_show) in collaboration with the costume designer [Bob Mackie](/source/Bob_Mackie) and became a constant presence on American prime-time television.[80][81] [Madonna](/source/Madonna) is also considered camp and according to educator [Carol Queen](/source/Carol_Queen), her "whole career up to and including *[Sex](/source/Sex_(book))* has depended heavily on camp imagery and camp understandings of gender and sex".[82] Madonna has also been named "Queen of Camp".[83]

In public and on stage, [Dusty Springfield](/source/Dusty_Springfield) developed an image supported by her peroxide blonde [beehive](/source/Beehive_(hairstyle)) hairstyle, [evening gowns](/source/Evening_gown), and heavy make-up that included her much-copied "panda eye" look.[84][85][86][87][88] Springfield borrowed elements of her look from blonde glamour queens of the 1950s, such as [Brigitte Bardot](/source/Brigitte_Bardot) and [Catherine Deneuve](/source/Catherine_Deneuve).[89][90] This, her singing style and her sexuality made her a "camp icon" and won her a following in the gay community.[88][90] Besides the prototypical female [drag queen](/source/Drag_queen), she was presented in the roles of the "Great White Lady" of pop and soul, and the "Queen of [Mods](/source/Mod_(subculture))".[86][91]

Rappers such as [Lil' Kim](/source/Lil'_Kim), [Nicki Minaj](/source/Nicki_Minaj) and [Cam'ron](/source/Cam'ron) have all been described as camp, often because of the opulence and winking humour of their personas. [Dapper Dan](/source/Dapper_Dan_(designer)) has been credited with introducing high fashion and camp to hip hop. In pop and rock, musicians [Prince](/source/Prince_(musician)) and [Jimi Hendrix](/source/Jimi_Hendrix) have also been called camp because of their flamboyance and playful use of artifice.[52]

South Korean rapper [Psy](/source/Psy), known for his viral internet music videos full of flamboyant dance and visuals, has come to be seen as a 21st-century incarnation of camp style.[92][93] [Geri Halliwell](/source/Geri_Halliwell) is recognized as a camp icon for her high camp aesthetics, performance style and kinship with the gay community during her time as a solo artist.[94][95]

Dancer, singer and actress [Josephine Baker](/source/Josephine_Baker) has been described as *camp.* Her famous banana dress has been noted as particularly camp for its flamboyant, humorous and ironic qualities, as well as the way it makes a political point using outdated but reclaimed imagery.[96][97][31]

[Lady Gaga](/source/Lady_Gaga), a contemporary exemplar of camp, uses music and dance to make [social commentary](/source/Social_commentary) on pop culture, as in the ["Judas"](/source/Judas_(Lady_Gaga_song)) music video. Her clothes, makeup, and accessories, created by high-end fashion designers, are integral to the narrative structure of her performances.[98] [Katy Perry](/source/Katy_Perry) has also been described as camp, with outlets like *[Vogue](/source/Vogue_(magazine))* describing her as another "Queen of Camp".[99]

The British tradition of the "[Last Night of the Proms](/source/Last_Night_of_the_Proms)" has been said to glory in "nostalgia, camp, and pastiche".[100] *Camp* still forms a strong element in UK culture, and many so-called [gay icons](/source/Gay_icon) and objects are chosen as such because they are camp, including musicians such as [Elton John](/source/Elton_John),[101] [Kylie Minogue](/source/Kylie_Minogue)[102], [Lulu](/source/Lulu_(singer))[103], and [Mika](/source/Mika_(singer)).[104]

Musicologist Philip Brett has highlighted campness in the work of [Benjamin Britten](/source/Benjamin_Britten) and has also argued for a camp reading of French composer [Francis Poulenc](/source/Francis_Poulenc)'s *Concerto for Two Pianos in D minor*, noting its combination of a Balinese [gamelan](/source/Gamelan) with a sense of "musical resignation and longing".[23]

Musicologist Raymond Knapp has compared *musical camp* to jazz, especially in camp's playfulness and admiration for its subjects, which can seem mocking but often borders on veneration. He argues that musical camp draws attention to its performativity and inspirations, while engaging the audience interactively in the process of creating meaning.[105]

### Photography

[Thomas Dworzak](/source/Thomas_Dworzak) published a collection of "last portrait" photographs of young [Taliban](/source/Taliban) soldiers about to depart for the front, found in Kabul photo studios. The book, titled *Taliban*,[106][107] attests to a campy aesthetic, quite close to the [gay movement in California](/source/Gay_movement) or a [Peter Greenaway](/source/Peter_Greenaway) film.[108]

### Television

The [Comedy Central](/source/Comedy_Central) television show *[Strangers with Candy](/source/Strangers_with_Candy)* (1999–2000), starring comedian [Amy Sedaris](/source/Amy_Sedaris), was a camp spoof of the *[ABC Afterschool Special](/source/ABC_Afterschool_Special)* genre.[109][110][111] Inspired by the work of [George Kuchar](/source/George_Kuchar) and his brother [Mike Kuchar](/source/Mike_Kuchar), [ASS Studios](/source/ASS_Studios) began making a series of short, no-budget camp films. Their feature film *[Satan, Hold My Hand](/source/Satan%2C_Hold_My_Hand)* (2013) features many elements recognized in camp pictures.[112][113]

Since 2000, the [Eurovision Song Contest](/source/Eurovision_Song_Contest), an annually televised competition of song performers from different countries, has shown an increasing element of camp—since the contest has shown an increasing attraction within the LGBTQ+ communities—in their stage performances. This is especially true during the televised finale, which is screened live across Europe. As it is a visual show, many [Eurovision](/source/Eurovision) performances attempt to attract the attention of voters through means other than the music, which sometimes leads to bizarre onstage gimmicks, and what some critics have called "the Eurovision [kitsch](/source/Kitsch) drive", with almost cartoonish novelty acts performing.[114]

### Theatre

[Andrew Holleran](/source/Andrew_Holleran)'s 1988 book of essays, *[Ground Zero](/source/Ground_Zero_(book))*, includes an analysis of "smoldering anarchist of kitsch" [Charles Ludlam](/source/Charles_Ludlam)—a theatre artist who produced what [Garth Greenwell](/source/Garth_Greenwell) describes as "extravagant drag epics" with Ridiculous Theatrical Company, until his death of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1987. Greenwell writes: "Holleran's essay is the most concise and profound discussion of camp aesthetics I know."[115]

The Australian theatre and opera director [Barrie Kosky](/source/Barrie_Kosky) is renowned for his use of camp in interpreting the works of the [Western canon](/source/Western_canon), including [Shakespeare](/source/William_Shakespeare), [Wagner](/source/Richard_Wagner), [Molière](/source/Moli%C3%A8re), [Seneca](/source/Seneca_the_Younger) and [Kafka](/source/Franz_Kafka). His 2006 eight-hour production for the Sydney Theatre Company *The Lost Echo* was based on [Ovid](/source/Ovid)'s *Metamorphoses* and [Euripides](/source/Euripides)'s *[The Bacchae](/source/The_Bacchae)*. In the first act ("The Song of Phaeton"), for instance, the goddess [Juno](/source/Juno_(mythology)) takes the form of a highly stylized [Marlene Dietrich](/source/Marlene_Dietrich), and the musical arrangements feature [Noël Coward](/source/No%C3%ABl_Coward) and [Cole Porter](/source/Cole_Porter). Kosky's use of camp is also effectively employed to satirize the pretensions, manners, and cultural vacuity of Australia's suburban [middle class](/source/Middle_class), which is suggestive of the style of [Dame Edna Everage](/source/Dame_Edna_Everage). For example, in *The Lost Echo*, Kosky employs a chorus of [high school](/source/Secondary_school) students: one girl in the chorus takes leave from the goddess Diana, and begins to rehearse a dance routine, muttering to herself in a broad Australian accent, "Mum says I have to practice if I want to be on *[Australian Idol](/source/Australian_Idol)*."[116]

In the UK, the [music hall](/source/Music_hall) tradition of [pantomime](/source/Pantomime), which often uses drag and other features of *camp*, remains a popular form of entertainment for families and young children. Most towns and cities in the UK stage at least one pantomime between November and February, drawing in an estimated £146 million in 2014.[20]

## Distinguishing between kitsch and camp

The words *camp* and *[kitsch](/source/Kitsch)* are often used interchangeably, though they are distinct. *Camp* is rooted in a specifically queer sensibility, informed by [queer identity](/source/Queer) and [culture](/source/Sexuality_and_gender_identity-based_cultures),[13][43] whereas *kitsch* is rooted in the rise of mass-produced art and [popular culture](/source/Popular_culture) for the mainstream.[117] Both terms may relate to an object or work that carries aesthetic value, but *kitsch* refers specifically to the work itself, whereas *camp* is a sensibility as well as a mode of performance. A person may consume *kitsch* intentionally or unintentionally, but *camp*, as Susan Sontag observed, is always a way of consuming or performing culture "in quotation marks".[30]

Sontag also distinguishes between *naïve* and *deliberate* *camp*,[74] and examines Christopher Isherwood's distinction between *low camp*—which he associated with cross-dressing and drag performances—and *high camp*—which included "the whole emotional basis of the Ballet, for example, and of course of Baroque art".[118] *High camp* has also been used to describe drag that is more subtle or ironic, as opposed to drag that is more parodic and obvious (and thus *low camp*).[119][120]

According to sociologist [Andrew Ross](/source/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)), *camp* combines outmoded and contemporary forms of style, fashion, and technology. Often characterized by the reappropriation of a "throwaway Pop aesthetic", camp works to intermingle the categories of "high" and "low" culture.[121] Objects may become camp objects because of their historical association with a power now in decline. As opposed to kitsch, camp reappropriates culture in an ironic fashion, whereas kitsch is indelibly sincere. Additionally, kitsch may be seen as a quality of an object, while camp "tends to refer to a subjective process".[122] Those who identify objects as "camp" note the distance often apparent in the process through which "unexpected value can be located in some obscure or exorbitant object."[123]

In its subversiveness and irony, camp can also suggest the possibility of overturning the [status quo](/source/Status_quo), making it a far more "radical spectacle" than *kitsch*.[27] Musicologist [Philip Brett](/source/Philip_Brett) has described camp as:

a strategy which confronts un-queer [ontology](/source/Ontology) [states of being] and [homophobia](/source/Homophobia) with humor and which by those same means may also signal the possibility of the overturn of that ontology—as when, on a famous night in 1969, the evening of the funeral of [Judy Garland](/source/Judy_Garland), the mood of a group of gays and drag queens reveling in the spectacle of their own arrest by members of the New York City Vice Squad at the [Stonewall Bar](/source/Stonewall_Inn) turned to one of rage and produced the event that solidified the lesbian and gay movement.[23]

## See also

- [Philosophy portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Philosophy)
- [Society portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Society)
- [Fashion portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Fashion)
- [LGBTQ portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:LGBTQ)

- [Avant-garde](/source/Avant-garde)

- [Asemic writing](/source/Asemic_writing)

- [Collection de l'art brut](/source/Collection_de_l'art_brut)

- [Glam rock](/source/Glam_rock)

- [Horror vacui](/source/Horror_vacui_(art))

- [Lille Métropole Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art](/source/Lille_M%C3%A9tropole_Museum_of_Modern%2C_Contemporary_and_Outsider_Art)

- [Lowbrow (art movement)](/source/Lowbrow_(art_movement))

- [Neo-pop](/source/Neo-pop)

- [Pop art](/source/Pop_art)

- [Saving and Preserving Arts and Cultural Environments](/source/Saving_and_Preserving_Arts_and_Cultural_Environments)

- [Surrealism](/source/Surrealism)

- [Vernacular architecture](/source/Vernacular_architecture)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** The paper, reporting on the arrest of a man attending the event in drag, said: "Upon searching Mack, he found upon him...a ticket upon which was printed—'Her Majesty Queen of Camp will hold a levee and grand bal-masque on Wednesday, Oct 21st, 1874. Dancing to commence at ten o'clock'".[24]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Definition of CAMP"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/camp). *www.merriam-webster.com*. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_2-1) ["Definition of 'camp'"](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/camp). *Collins Dictionary*. HarperCollins Publishers. Retrieved 9 August 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:4_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:4_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:4_3-2) ["What does it mean to be camp?"](https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190503-what-does-it-mean-to-be-camp). *www.bbc.com*. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** "Camp, Adj., Sense 3." *Oxford English Dictionary.* Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1024137863.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:10_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:10_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:10_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:10_5-3) ["glbtq >> literature >> Camp"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120208193238/http://www.glbtq.com/literature/camp.html). 8 February 2012. Archived from [the original](http://www.glbtq.com/literature/camp.html) on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-MallaMcGillis2005_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-MallaMcGillis2005_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-MallaMcGillis2005_6-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-MallaMcGillis2005_6-3) Kerry Malla (January 2005). Roderick McGillis (ed.). ["Between a Frock and a Hard Place: Camp Aesthetics and Children's Culture"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27477842). *Canadian Review of American Studies*. **35** (1): 1–3. Retrieved 10 October 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_7-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:2_7-2) Moe Meyer (2010): *An Archaeology of Posing: Essays on Camp, Drag, and Sexuality*, Macater Press, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-9814924-5-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9814924-5-2).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:3_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:3_8-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:3_8-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:3_8-3) Moe Meyer (2011): *The Politics and Poetics of Camp*, Routledge, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-415-51489-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-51489-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** "Der grosse Unterschied zwischen Camp und Kitsch liegt vor allem darin, dass sich Camp seiner Künstlichkeit und Aufgesetztheit bewusst ist." (Noah Pilloud, *[What’s Camp got to do with Kitsch?](https://www.studizytig.ch/ausgaben/ausgabe-30/whats-camp-got-to-do-with-kitsch/)* (*bärner studizytig*, Studentischer Presseverein an der [Universität Bern](/source/Universit%C3%A4t_Bern), 2022-12-22)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Eiss2016_10-0)** Harry Eiss (11 May 2016). [*The Joker*](https://books.google.com/books?id=17f6DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA26). Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 26. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4438-9429-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4438-9429-6).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:20_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:20_11-1) Carrier, David (2 February 1995). ["CRITICAL CAMP"](https://www.artforum.com/features/critical-camp-202706/). *Artforum*. Retrieved 10 August 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:5_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:5_12-1) Sontag, Susan (15 February 2022) [1999], ["Notes on 'Camp'"](https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781474465809-006/html), *Camp: Queer Aesthetics and the Performing Subject: A Reader*, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, p. 53, [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1515/9781474465809-006](https://doi.org/10.1515%2F9781474465809-006), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4744-6580-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4744-6580-9), retrieved 9 August 2024{{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_work_parameter_with_ISBN))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:14_13-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:14_13-1) Babuscio (1993, 20), Feil (2005, 478), Morrill (1994, 110), Shugart and Waggoner (2008, 33), and Van Leer (1995)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Harry Eiss (11 May 2016). *The Joker*. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 11. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4438-9429-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4438-9429-6).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:6_15-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:6_15-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:6_15-2) Dansky, Steven F. "On the persistence of camp." *The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide* 20, no. 2 (2013): 15-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Babuscio, J., 1999. The cinema of camp (aka camp and the gay sensibility). *Camp: Queer aesthetics and the performing subject: A reader*, pp.117-35.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:17_17-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:17_17-1) Harvey, Keith (31 January 1998). ["Translating Camp Talk: Gay Identities and Cultural Transfer"](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13556509.1998.10799024). *The Translator*. **4** (2): 295–320. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/13556509.1998.10799024](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F13556509.1998.10799024). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1355-6509](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1355-6509).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:16_18-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:16_18-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:16_18-2) ["glbtq >> literature >> Camp"](https://web.archive.org/web/20111008150300/http://www.glbtq.com/literature/camp,2.html). 8 October 2011. Archived from [the original](http://www.glbtq.com/literature/camp,2.html) on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:7_19-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:7_19-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:7_19-2) Leslie, Esther (2022), Storey, Mark; Shapiro, Stephen (eds.), ["Schlock, Kitsch, and Camp"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-american-horror/schlock-kitsch-and-camp/AFE723D2952473D1887BF2BB9487F771), *The Cambridge Companion to American Horror*, Cambridge Companions to Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 91–104 (96), [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1017/9781009071550.008](https://doi.org/10.1017%2F9781009071550.008), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-316-51300-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-316-51300-2), retrieved 9 August 2024{{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_work_parameter_with_ISBN))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:18_20-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:18_20-1) Sladen, Simon (2017). "'Hiya Fans!' Celebrity Performance and Reception in Modern British Pantomime". In Ainsworth, Adam; Double, Oliver; Peacock, Louise (eds.). *Popular performance*. London Oxford New York New Delhi Sydney: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. p. 179. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4742-4734-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4742-4734-4).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-CampWaters_21-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-CampWaters_21-1) ["John Waters: King of Camp and Auteur of Cult Trash"](https://filmdaze.net/john-waters-king-of-camp-and-auteur-of-cult-trash/). *Film Daze*. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2022.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:8_22-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:8_22-1) Baker, Paul (2004). [*Fantabulosa: a dictionary of Polari and gay slang*](https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm55587437). London: Continuum. p. 18. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8264-7343-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8264-7343-1). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [55587437](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/55587437).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:15_23-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:15_23-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:15_23-2) Brett, Philip. ["Queer Musical Orientalism"](https://echo.humspace.ucla.edu/issues/queer-musical-orientalism-2/). *ECHO*. University of California. Retrieved 9 August 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-OED_camp_adj_24-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-OED_camp_adj_24-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-OED_camp_adj_24-2) *Oxford English Dictionary*, s.v. "camp (adj. & n.5)", December 2024, [https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7181450905](https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7181450905).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Rodgers, Bruce (1979). *Gay Talk: a (sometimes outrageous) dictionary of gay slang*. A Paragon book (Reprint ed.). New York: Paragon books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-399-50392-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-399-50392-4).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** "camp". *Oxford English Dictionary*, Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:11_27-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:11_27-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:11_27-2) Luu, Chi (6 June 2018). ["The Unspeakable Linguistics of Camp"](https://daily.jstor.org/unspeakable-linguistics-camp/). *JSTOR Daily*. Retrieved 9 August 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** Harper, Douglas. ["camp (adj.)"](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=camp). *Online Etymology Dictionary*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160914223354/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=camp) from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** [Entry "camper"](http://atilf.atilf.fr/academie9.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110514222153/http://atilf.atilf.fr/academie9.htm) 14 May 2011 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), in: *[Dictionnaire de l'Académie française](/source/Dictionnaire_de_l'Acad%C3%A9mie_fran%C3%A7aise)*, ninth edition (1992). "**2.** Fam: Placer avec fermeté, avec insolence ou selon ses aises.] *Il me parlait, le chapeau campé sur la tête.* Surtout pron. *Se camper solidement dans son fauteuil. Se camper à la meilleure place. Il se campa devant son adversaire.* **3.** En parlant d'un acteur, d'un artiste: Figurer avec force et relief. *Camper son personage sur la scène. Camper une figure dans un tableau, des caractères dans un roman*." (**Familiar:** To assume a defiant, insolent or [devil-may-care](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/devil-may-care) attitude. **Theatre:** To perform with forcefulness and [exaggeration](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exaggeration); [to overact](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overact); To impose one's character assertively into a scene; [to upstage](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/upstage).)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Sontag2009_30-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Sontag2009_30-1) Susan Sontag (2 July 2009). [*Against Interpretation and Other Essays*](https://books.google.com/books?id=HLdQPwAACAAJ). Penguin Modern Classics. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-14-119006-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-14-119006-8). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130602194813/http://books.google.com/books?id=HLdQPwAACAAJ) from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2011.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:23_31-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:23_31-1) Baker, Paul (2023). *Camp!*. London Stockholm: Footnote Press. p. 15. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-80444-032-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-80444-032-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** ["Camp"](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa-cam1.html). *www.worldwidewords.org*. Retrieved 10 August 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** 'My "campish undertakings" are not meeting with the success they deserve. Whatever I do seems to get me into hot water somewhere;...':*The Times*(London), 30 May 1870, p. 13, 'The Men in Women's Clothes'

1. **[^](#cite_ref-34)** Maidment, Adam (6 June 2021). ["How Salford's Victorian drag queens led to Manchester 21st century scene"](https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/how-camp-masquerade-ball-nearly-20729624). *Manchester Evening News*. Retrieved 26 February 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Queen of Camp, 1874", *Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook*, 4 December 2018; expanded 30 October 2019 [http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1874camp.htm](http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1874camp.htm)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-newton_37-0)** Esther Newton (1978): *Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America*, University of Chicago Press. [*Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America*](https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/257048012) in libraries ([WorldCat](/source/WorldCat) catalog).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** Leslie, Esther (2022), Storey, Mark; Shapiro, Stephen (eds.), ["Schlock, Kitsch, and Camp"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-american-horror/schlock-kitsch-and-camp/AFE723D2952473D1887BF2BB9487F771), *The Cambridge Companion to American Horror*, Cambridge Companions to Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 91–104 (95), [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1017/9781009071550.008](https://doi.org/10.1017%2F9781009071550.008), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-316-51300-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-316-51300-2), retrieved 9 August 2024{{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_work_parameter_with_ISBN))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-39)** Lindner, Oliver (2016), Kamm, Jürgen; Neumann, Birgit (eds.), ["The Comic Nation: Little Britain and the Politics of Representation"](https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137552952_22), *British TV Comedies: Cultural Concepts, Contexts and Controversies*, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 326–340, [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1057/9781137552952_22](https://doi.org/10.1057%2F9781137552952_22), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-137-55295-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-137-55295-2), retrieved 9 August 2024{{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_work_parameter_with_ISBN))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-40)** Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, 1976 edition, sense 6, [Slang, orig., homosexual jargon, Americanism] banality, mediocrity, artifice, ostentation, etc. so extreme as to amuse or have a perversely sophisticated appeal

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Sontag2019_41-0)** Susan Sontag (14 June 2019). [*Notes on "Camp"*](https://books.google.com/books?id=gcqcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT4). Picador. p. 4. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-250-62134-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-250-62134-4).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:92_42-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:92_42-1) Cohan, Steven. *Incongruous entertainment: Camp, cultural value, and the MGM musical*. Duke University Press, 2005. p.11, 274.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:19_43-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:19_43-1) Core, Philip (1984). *Camp: the lie that tells the truth*. New York: Delilah Books. p. 5. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-933328-83-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-933328-83-9).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:12_44-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:12_44-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:12_44-2) Morrill, Cynthia. "Revamping the Gay Sensibility: Queer Camp and *dyke noir*." In Moe Meyer (ed). *The Politics and Poetics of Camp*. Routledge, 2005. p.94.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-45)** Clements, Mikaella (25 November 2016). ["Notes on dyke camp"](https://theoutline.com/post/4556/notes-on-dyke-camp). *The Outline*. Retrieved 9 August 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:13_46-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:13_46-1) Lim, Eng-Beng (2015). ["A Performative Presidency"](https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/583613). *American Quarterly*. **67** (2): 301–307. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1353/aq.2015.0021](https://doi.org/10.1353%2Faq.2015.0021). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1080-6490](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1080-6490).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-47)** Dominguez, Alessa (1 May 2015). [""I'm Very Rich, Bitch!": The Melodramatic Money Shot and the Excess of Racialized Gendered Affect in the Real Housewives Docusoaps"](https://read.dukeupress.edu/camera-obscura/article/30/1%20(88)/155/97575/I-m-Very-Rich-Bitch-The-Melodramatic-Money-Shot). *Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies*. **30** (1): 155–183. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1215/02705346-2885486](https://doi.org/10.1215%2F02705346-2885486). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0270-5346](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0270-5346).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-MallaMcGillis20052_48-0)** Kerry Malla (January 2005). Roderick McGillis (ed.). ["Between a Frock and a Hard Place: Camp Aesthetics and Children's Culture"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27477842). *Canadian Review of American Studies*. **35** (1): 1–3. Retrieved 10 October 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:212_49-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:212_49-1) Philpot, Chris (2017). "Diva Worship in a Queer Poetic of Waste in D. Gilson's *Brit Lit*". In Drushel, Bruce E.; Peters, Brian M. (eds.). *Sontag and the camp aesthetic: advancing new perspectives*. Media, culture, and the arts. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 66. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4985-3777-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4985-3777-3).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:222_50-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:222_50-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:222_50-2) Cooperman, Jeannette (30 January 2020). ["Is Camp Still "Camp"?"](https://commonreader.wustl.edu/c/is-camp-still-camp/). *Common Reader*. Retrieved 10 August 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:21_51-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:21_51-1) ["Patrick Kelly's Radical Cheek (washingtonpost.com)"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3561-2004May30_2.html). *www.washingtonpost.com*. Retrieved 10 August 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-52)** Barnes, Sequoia (20 December 2017). [""If You Don't Bring No Grits, Don't Come": Critiquing a Critique of Patrick Kelly, Golliwogs, And Camp as A Technique of Black Queer Expression"](https://doi.org/10.1515%2Fculture-2017-0062). *Open Cultural Studies*. **1** (1): 678–689. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1515/culture-2017-0062](https://doi.org/10.1515%2Fculture-2017-0062). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [2451-3474](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2451-3474).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:22_53-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:22_53-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:22_53-2) Newman, Scarlett (3 May 2019). ["Who Are the Black Icons of Camp?"](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/black-culture-and-camp). *Teen Vogue*. Retrieved 10 August 2024.

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1. **[^](#cite_ref-101)** Compare: Miller, W. Watts (2002), "Secularism and the sacred: is there really something called 'secular religion'?", in Idinopulos, Thomas A.; Wilson, Brian C. (eds.), [*Reappraising Durkheim for the study and teaching of religion today*](https://books.google.com/books?id=TZt_hMv3OqQC), Numen book series, vol. 92, Brill, pp. 38–39, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9004123393](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9004123393), [archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130602203649/http://books.google.com/books?id=TZt_hMv3OqQC) from the original on 2 June 2013, retrieved 21 November 2010, An English example of how the life has gone out of *lieux de memoire* concerns William Blake's hymn about the building of a New Jerusalem. it is still sung every year in London 's Albert Hall on the Last Night of the Proms. But it is in a fervor without faith. It brings tears to the eyes, only it is in a mixture of nostalgia, camp, 'post-modernism,' and pastiche.

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1. **[^](#cite_ref-112)** ["'Strangers with Candy': After-school special, Sedaris style"](http://www.ocregister.com/2006/07/06/strangers-with-candy-after-school-special-sedaris-style/). 6 July 2006. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170806100949/http://www.ocregister.com/2006/07/06/strangers-with-candy-after-school-special-sedaris-style/) from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-113)** filmmakermagazine.com/27295-courtney-fathom-sells-hi-8-hi...

1. **[^](#cite_ref-114)** MacAulay, Scott. ["COURTNEY FATHOM SELL: SO YOU WANNA BE AN UNDERGROUND FILMMAKER?"](http://filmmakermagazine.com/29016-so-you-wanna-be-an-underground-filmmaker/). *Filmmaker Magazine*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150627215406/http://filmmakermagazine.com/29016-so-you-wanna-be-an-underground-filmmaker) from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Antes_cursi_115-0)** Allatson, Paul (2007). "'Antes cursi que sencilla': Eurovision Song Contests and the Kitsch-Drive to Euro-Unity". *Culture, Theory and Critique*. **48** (1): 87–98. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/14735780701293540](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F14735780701293540). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [146449408](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:146449408).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-116)** Greenwell, Garth (15 April 2020). [""Chronicle of a Plague, Revisited" and the Inner Life of Catastrophe"](https://www.newyorker.com/books/second-read/chronicle-of-a-plague-revisited-and-the-inner-life-of-catastrophe). *The New Yorker*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0028-792X](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0028-792X). Retrieved 9 May 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-117)** Smale, Alison (22 April 2015). ["Australian director brings Berlin's complexity to the opera stage; Novel style wins acclaim and younger audiences for the Komische Oper"](https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=22699740&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA410540597&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs). *International New York Times*: NA. Retrieved 9 August 2024 – via Gale Academic OneFile.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-118)** Menninghaus, Winfried (2009). "On the Vital Significance of 'Kitsch': Walter Benjamin's Politics of 'Bad Taste'". In Andrew Benjamin and Charles Rice (ed.). *Walter Benjamin and the Architecture of Modernity*. re.press. pp. 39–58. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-9805440-9-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9805440-9-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Stępień2014_119-0)** Anna Malinowska (26 September 2014). ["1, section 1: Bad Romance: Pop and Camp in Light of Evolutionary Confusion"](https://books.google.com/books?id=OyRQBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11). In Justyna Stępień (ed.). *Redefining Kitsch and Camp in Literature and Culture*. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 11. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4438-6779-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4438-6779-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-120)** ["glbtq >> arts >> Drag Shows: Drag Queens and Female Impersonators"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110604055547/https://www.glbtq.com/arts/drag_queens.html). 4 June 2011. Archived from [the original](https://www.glbtq.com/arts/drag_queens.html) on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-121)** Wren, Daniel (25 July 2014). ["A fool's guide to drag 'types'"](https://vadamagazine.com/features/opinions/guide-drag-types). Retrieved 9 August 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-122)** [Ross, Andrew](/source/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)) (1989). [*No Respect: Intellectuals and Popular Culture*](https://archive.org/details/norespectintellec00ross). New York: Routledge. p. [136](https://archive.org/details/norespectintellec00ross/page/136).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-123)** [Ross, Andrew](/source/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)) (1989). [*No Respect: Intellectuals and Popular Culture*](https://archive.org/details/norespectintellec00ross). New York: Routledge. p. [145](https://archive.org/details/norespectintellec00ross/page/145).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-124)** [Ross, Andrew](/source/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)) (1989). [*No Respect: Intellectuals and Popular Culture*](https://archive.org/details/norespectintellec00ross). New York: Routledge. p. [146](https://archive.org/details/norespectintellec00ross/page/146).

## Sources

- Babuscio, Jack (1993) "Camp and the Gay Sensibility" in *Camp Grounds: Style and Homosexuality*, David Bergman Ed., U of Massachusetts, Amherst [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-87023-878-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-87023-878-9)

- Feil, Ken (2005) "Queer Comedy", in *Comedy: A Geographic and Historical Guide* Vol. 2. pp. 19–38, 477–492, Maurice Charney Ed., Praeger, Westport, CN [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-313-32715-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-313-32715-5)

- Levine, Martin P. (1998) *Gay Macho*, New York UP, New York [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8147-4694-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8147-4694-2)

- Meyer, Moe, Ed. (1994) *The Politics and Poetics of Camp*, Routledge, London and New York [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-415-08248-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-08248-8)

- Morrill, Cynthia (1994) "Revamping the Gay Sensibility: Queer Camp and *dyke noir*" (In Meyer pp. 110–129)

- [Oates, Joyce Carol](/source/Joyce_Carol_Oates) and Atwan, Robert. 2000. *The Best American Essays of the Century.* pp. 327-341. Joyce Carol Oates, editor, Robert Atwan co-editor. [Houghton Mifflin Company](/source/Houghton_Mifflin_Company), New York [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-618-15587-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-618-15587-3)

- Helene A. Shugart and Catherine Egley Waggoner (2008) *Making Camp: Rhetorics of Transgression in U.S. Popular Culture*, U of Alabama P., Tuscaloosa [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8173-5652-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8173-5652-1)

- Van Leer, David (1995) *The Queening of America: Gay Culture in Straight Society*, Routledge, London and New York [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-415-90336-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-90336-3)

## Further reading

- Baker, Paul (2023). *Camp! The Story of the Attitude that Conquered the World*. London: Footnote Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1804440339](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1804440339)

- Core, Philip (1984/1994). *CAMP, The Lie That Tells the Truth*, foreword by George Melly. London: Plexus Publishing Limited. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-85965-044-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-85965-044-8)

- Cleto, Fabio, editor (1999). *Camp: Queer Aesthetics and the Performing Subject*. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-472-06722-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-472-06722-2).

- Padva, Gilad (2008). "Educating The Simpsons: Teaching Queer Representations in Contemporary Visual Media". *Journal of LGBT Youth* 5(3), 57–73.

- Padva, Gilad and Talmon, Miri (2008). "Gotta Have An Effeminate Heart: The Politics of Effeminacy and Sissyness in a Nostalgic Israeli TV Musical". *Feminist Media Studies* 8(1), 69–84.

- Padva, Gilad (2005). "Radical Sissies and Stereotyped Fairies in Laurie Lynd's The Fairy Who Didn't Want To Be A Fairy Anymore". *Cinema Journal* 45(1), 66–78.

- Padva, Gilad (2000). "Priscilla Fights Back: The Politicization of Camp Subculture". *Journal of Communication Inquiry* 24(2), 216–243.

- Meyer, Moe, editor (1993). *The Politics and Poetics of Camp*. Routledge. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-415-08248-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-08248-X).

- Sontag, Susan (1964). "Notes on Camp" in *Against Interpretation and Other Essays*. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-312-28086-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-312-28086-6).

## External links

- *[Notes on "Camp"](https://classes.dma.ucla.edu/Spring15/104/Susan%20Sontag_%20Notes%20On%20-Camp-.pdf)* by [Susan Sontag](/source/Susan_Sontag)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Camp (style)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_(style)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_(style)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.