Sexuality and Gender in Early Modern Europe: Institutions, Texts, Images - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521446058 ISBN 13: 9780521446051

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1993

Synopsis

This exploration of sexuality and gender in Renaissance art and literature starts from an assumption that would have seemed unthinkable a generation ago: that the 'natural' phenomena of sex, gender and subjectivity are constructed rather than essentially biological or fixed. The essays rise to the challenge of producing a new post-Foucaultian history of gender and sexuality. All of them have been influenced by feminism, and several deal with women not just as objects of representation, but as subjects and authors in their own right. Among the historical issues examined are the production and suppression of women's voices, the relation between illicit sexuality and social order, the ambiguity of beauty, lesbian erotics, birth-imagery and the birthing ritual, the class status of women, the 'femininity' of masculine dress, and the sexual politics of courtesy.

About this title

Book Description

This book's exploration of sexuality and gender in Renaissance art and literature starts from an assumption that would have seemed unthinkable a generation ago--that the "natural" phenomena of sex, gender, and subjectivity are constructed rather than essentially biological or fixed.

Review

"The great strength of this volume is that it displays the wide variety of approaches being applied to cultural products of the Renaissance. In particular, it demonstrates how the juxtaposition and reconsideration of different types of evidence (visual, literary, and 'empirical') can significantly enrich our understanding of the Renaissance." Linda L. Gaus, Sixteenth Century Journal

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521446058
• ISBN 13: 9780521446051
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 364
• Editor: Turner James Grantham