Sexual antipodes [[electronic resource] ] : enlightenment globalization and the placing of sex / / Pamela Cheek

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910450103703321
• Autore: Cheek Pamela
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Stanford, : Stanford University Press, 2003
• ISBN: 0-8047-8030-7
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (260 p.)
• Disciplina: 820.9/3538
• Soggetti: English literature - 18th century - History and criticism; Erotic literature, English - History and criticism; Sex in literature; French literature - 18th century - History and criticism; Travelers' writings, English - History and criticism; Travelers' writings, French - History and criticism; Erotic literature, French - History and criticism; Comparative literature - English and French; Comparative literature - French and English; Globalization - History - 18th century; Imperialism in literature; Sex customs in literature; Colonies in literature; Enlightenment; Electronic books.; Oceania In literature
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [195]-236) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- PART I. METROPOLITAN ALLEGORIES -- 1. National Character, Publicity and Sex -- 2. Public Women in the French Body Politic -- 3. Public Life in Enlightenment Pornography -- PART 2. ANTIPODES -- 4. The Sexual Nature of South Sea Islands -- 5. British Encounter: Recognizing Sensibility -- 6. French Encounter: Crafting Transparency -- Notes -- ; Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Sexual Antipodes is about how Enlightenment print culture built modern national and racial identity out of images of sexual order and disorder in public life. It examines British and French popular journalism, utopian fiction and travel accounts about South Sea encounter, pamphlet literature, and pornography, as well as more traditional literary sources on the eighteenth century, such as the novel and philosophical essays and tales. The title refers to a premise in utopian and exoticist fiction about the southern portion of the globe: sexual order defines the character of the state. The book begins by examining how the idea of sexual order operated as the principle for explaining national differences in eighteenth-century contestation between Britain and France. It then traces how, following British and French encounters with Tahiti, the comparison of different national sexual orders formed the basis for two theories of race: race as essential character and race as degeneration.