Research Catalog

Before pornography : erotic writing in early modern England / Ian Frederick Moulton.

Title: Before pornography : erotic writing in early modern England / Ian Frederick Moulton.
Author: Moulton, Ian Frederick, 1964-
Publication: Oxford [England] ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2000.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Request in advance	PR428.S48 M68 2000	Off-site

Details

Description

xiii, 268 p. : ill.; 24 cm.

Summary

"Before Pornography explores the relationship between erotic writing, masculinity, and national identity in Renaissance England. The book argues that pornography is a historical phenomenon, and although representation of sexual activity may well exist in all cultures, pornography does not. While pornography has traditionally tended to present sexuality as a realm of private individual pleasure, early modern erotic writing is often concerned with the public and social, even political, functions of sex. In Renaissance England, erotic writing addressed issues of gender and national identity in ways very different from those typical of pornography." "Before Pornography deals with a wide range of texts, from manuscript commonplace books to polemical prose pamphlets, from popular drama to epic poetry. It provides a detailed discussion of the transmission of erotic poetry in manuscript, including an in-depth analysis of an early modern erotic manuscript owned by a woman. It addresses the social significance of eroticism in canonical texts such as Sidney's Defense of Poesy and Spenser's Faerie Queene. As Well, the book thoroughly re-evaluates the works and career of the Italian satirist Pietro Aretino, a figure of disorderly eroticism who in England symbolized erotic corruption in the same way that Machiavelli did political corruption. The book explores the provocative role Aretino played in English literary culture, in particular the importance of "Aretine" eroticism in the works of Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson. Addressing a broader range of material than any previous study, Before Pornography will interest scholars and students of early modern England, the history of erotic representation, gender and queer studies, and English Renaissance literature."--Jacket.

Series Statement

Studies in the history of sexuality

Uniform Title

Studies in the history of sexuality

Subject

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.
History

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 247-264) and index.

Processing Action (note)

committed to retain

Contents

Erotic writing in manuscript culture -- Erotic writing, effeminacy, and national identity -- Englishmen Italianated -- "Courtesan politc": the erotic writing and cultural significance of Pietro Aretino -- "The English Arentine": Thomas Nashe -- Ben Jonson and the erotics of a literary career.

ISBN

0195137094 (acid-free paper)

LCCN

^^^99044061^

OCLC

43286542

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library