Libertines and Radicals in Early Modern London: Sexuality, Politics and Literary Culture, 1630-1685

ISBN-13: 9780521782791 / Angielski / Twarda / 2001 / 368 str.

James Grantham Turner

Opis

This study analyzes English sexual culture between the Civil Wars and the death of Charles II in unprecedented detail. James Grantham Turner examines a broad range of Civil War and Restoration texts, from sex-crime records to Milton's epics and Rochester's "mannerly obscene" lyrics. Throughout, he interprets satirical texts, whether political or pornographic, as an attempt to neutralize women's efforts to establish their own institutions and voice. This exhaustive study will be of interest to cultural historians as well as literary scholars.

Recenzje

"Learned and lubricious, the book is witty, exceedingly well informed, and a little bit obscene." Studies in English Literature

Spis treści

List of illustrations; Preface; List of abbreviations and frequently cited works; 1. Pornographia and the markings of prostitution: an introduction; 2. Ceremonies of abjection: sex, politics and the disorderly subculture; 3. 'The posture of a free state': political pornography and the 'commonwealth of women', 1640–1660; 4. The wandering whore's return: the carnivalization of sexuality in the early Restoration; 5. Monstrous assemblies: bawdy-house riots, 'libertine libels' and the royal mistress; 6. 'Making yourself a beast': upper-class riot and inversionary wit in the age of Rochester; Epilogue: 'In Bathsheba's Embraces old': pornographia rediviva at the close of Charles II's reign; Notes; Index.