Male homosexuality in western culture: the dilemma of identity and subculture in historical research

This article examines recent historical literature dealing with concepts of homosexual identity and subculture. It focuses on the current historiographical debate between the essentialists and the social constructionists. Historians are searching for the origins of the modern homosexual and for ways to explain the unique development of homosexual identities and subcultures in western societies. The distinction is drawn between macroanalysis and microanalysis. After critically examining their efforts, the article suggests the need to avoid focusing on global historical forces, which might account for the emergence of a homosexual identity (macroanalysis), and, instead, to analyze carefully particular homosexual subcultures (microanalysis). This latter approach can provide insights into the variety of homosexual social roles and identities that have existed in history.