ABSTRACT
This chapter explores that the French language of sexual citizenship relies just as heavily on a model of unspecified difference, this time drawing from a French literary tradition, especially as it is exemplified in the writings of Jean Genet. It discusses the notion of cultural authenticity as it has been examined in recent scholarship and how it relates to the broader discussions in this book about globalization and citizenship. Globalization functions only as the most recent priming force in a local culture's constant search for genuineness in relation to external forces. Recent scholarship has observed the socially constructed nature of authenticity and cultural genuineness. Indeed, literary figures can also become cultural icons and function as archetypes when they embody a confluence of ideas or signs that emerge in a particular socio-historical moment and speak to a particular generation, community, or other social grouping.
