"The Hegemonic Outsider: William Beckford's Lisbon Journal"

In 1787 William Beckford, author of "Vathek", left England following some allegations of homosexual activity. Focusing on his private Lisbon journal, which he never published during his lifetime, this essay examines Beckford’s attempts at recovering a dignified status in Lisbon by relating to various forms of authority, such as plantocracy, court aristocracy, normative sexuality and religion. What emerges is a constant ambivalence towards power structures, which helps in locating his figure as a Romantic precursor. This is especially evident in his contradictory espousal of radical politics and anti-abolitionism, exposed by some postcolonial critics and reinforced by the present study of his Journal, in contrast with a widespread idealisation of his figure. In order to contextualise Beckford historically, reference is here made to travel-writing scholarship and, above all, to studies on homosexuality and on the history of sexuality.