Claudine, by Riyoko Ikeda, is a tragic, yet sympathetic, story about a transgender man. Originally serialized in Margaret magazine, this story is touching and agonizing in equal measure. The story is presented to us as a case study from the perspective of a kind and empathetic psychiatrist who becomes Claudine’s confidant and knows there really isn’t anything wrong with his patient that full acceptance by society couldn’t cure.
The psychiatrist is himself an interesting character and reminded me greatly of the equally kind psychiatrist in Pieta. While this doctor was only able to watch and record Claudine’s life, the doctor in Pieta were able to intervene, allowing Sahako and Rio a chance at happiness. I wonder, sometimes, if Claudine had been written 20 years later, would this doctor have done the same? I feel sure he would have.
Riyoko Ikeda is well-known for the otherworldly beauty of her gender non-conforming characters and anyone who knows Dear Brother or Rose of Versailles, will be used to the character type presented here. Claudine is beautiful and women are attracted to him, but he is not able to maintain a relationship through no fault of his own. And, while there is a Well of Loneliness feel about the conclusion, the end of Claudine’s life is presented not as an inevitability, but a crime committed upon Claudine by society.
For 1978, this was an extraordinary portrayal. It reads a bit old fashioned now, as society moves towards greater awareness and understanding of transgender people, but it’s not stale in the least.
Of course Seven Seas has done a lovely job of reproductio,n as one expects. I was thrilled to see the talented Jocelyne Allen translating this particular volume. I knew she’d handle it all with skill. This is a top-notch English edition of a 40-year old classic that I have wanted you all to read for years. ^_^ I recommend it highly. Pre-orders are live; the book is slated for release in late June.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 6
LGBTQ – 8
Service – 2
Overall – 7
As I wrote in my 2007 review of the original, “I like to think that, when young Satou Sei was combing literature for reflections of her own feelings and she came across Well, she might have also come across Claudine and, like myself, rejected the tragedy, even as she acknowledged its place in her personal history…. Us Comp. Lit. majors must stick together after all. ^_^”
Seven Seas is branching out into more queer narrative; in upcoming days you’ll also see The Bride Was a Boy, which is a comic essay by transgender creator Chii, as well as My Solo Exchange Diary: The Sequel to My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness. This seems like a perfect start to this week, which will end with TCAF. And, ss we all know, everyone is queer at TCAF! ^_^
Many, many thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy! The original volume of this is one of my prize possessions, it’ll be nice to have it in English!
Incredibly wonderful manga, especially the image of Claudine, which is felt much less fetishized (or even not at all fetishized) compared with the modern attitude to similar characters.
Obviously, the ending upset me (especially the attitude of Claudine’s close people), but apparently, in that century could not be otherwise.
Yes, one has to wonder what the same story might be if written now.
Yeah, I’d love to read this series in a modern entourage. Especially if the end could be at least a little happier.
Claudine ripped my heart to shreds. While I will buy this volume (many thanks Seven Seas!), I’ll have to work up the courage to actually read it again!
Thanks for the review, Erica. ^_^;
I remember when you brought this book along with a lot of other titles to AnimeNation headquarters in Tampa more than a decade ago. I think you also threatened to annihilate anyone who touched it. That was a good meet up. :)
Yes, the original is among one of my prize possessions. ^_^ It was a good meetup.
Yeah, it’s tough – calling wanting gender reassignment surgery a mental illness is stigmatizing, and calling it no health problem at all makes it harder to actually get the surgery wanted.
Here’s hoping that by “full acceptance by society” they mean “full acceptance by society *including* full coverage for sex reassignment/gender confirmation surgery (doesn’t the gender stay the same and the sex get changed to match it?) by health insurance.”
The manga is 40 years old, so it seems reasonable to give it a little leeway in lack of understanding or nuance. And the original Japanese had a layer of ambiguity that the translation cannot quite express.
We’ll certainly work for the broadest definition of “acceptance” for all in society.