From Sappho to De Sade: Moments in the History of Sexuality

Description

The history of sexuality has been the subject of increased interest in recent years and more widely acknowledged importance in the interpretation of past mentalités. Yet historians have only recently begun to study sexual practices in any depth, establishing that sexuality is not a biological constant but an ever-changing phenomenon, continuously shaped by people themselves. The contributors to this inter-disciplinary collection bring their expertise in ancient as well as medieval history, anthropology, modern history, and psychology to bear upon the history of sexuality. They explore various aspects of sexuality in successive periods: pederasty and lesbian love in antiquity, incest in the Middle Ages, sexual education during the Dutch Republic, voyeurism in the rococo, prostitution in Vienna around 1900, and the invention of sexology. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Original Title Page Original Copyright Page Table of Contents List of illustrations Preface 1 GREEK PEDERASTY AND MODERN HOMOSEXUALITY 2 LESBIAN SAPPHO AND SAPPHO OF LESBOS 3 TO THE LIMITS OF KINSHIP: ANTI-INCEST LEGISLATION IN THE EARLY MEDIEVAL WEST (500–900) 4 A BRIDLE FOR LUST: REPRESENTATIONS OF SEXUAL MORALITY IN DUTCH CHILDREN’S PORTRAITS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 5 THE WOMAN ON A SWING AND THE SENSUOUS VOYEUR: PASSION AND VOYEURISM IN FRENCH ROCOCO 6 VENUS MINSIEKE GASTHUIS: SEXUAL BELIEFS IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY HOLLAND 7 DE SADE, A PESSIMISTIC LIBERTINE 8 SEXUAL MORALITY AND THE MEANING OF PROSTITUTION IN FIN-DE-SIÈCLE VIENNA 9 MANNISH WOMEN OF THE BALKAN MOUNTAINS 10 A HISTORY OF SEXOLOGY: SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL ASPECTS OF SEXUALITY Notes on contributors Select bibliography Index