The Reinvention of Obscenity

Sex, Lies, and Tabloids in Early Modern France

By: Joan DeJean

Write A Review

Hardcover | 1 June 2002 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
224 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.92 x 15.55 x 2.09

Hardcover

$279.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $69.94 with

Ships in 5 to 10 business days

The concept of obscenity is an ancient one. But as Joan DeJean suggests, its modern form, the same version that today's politicians decry and savvy artists exploit, was invented in seventeenth-century France.
"The Reinvention of Obscenity" casts a fresh light on the mythical link between sexual impropriety and things French. Exploring the complicity between censorship, print culture, and obscenity, DeJean argues that mass market printing and the first modern censorial machinery came into being at the very moment that obscenity was being reinvented--that is, transformed from a minor literary phenomenon into a threat to society. DeJean's principal case in this study is the career of Moliere, who cannily exploited the new link between indecency and female genitalia to found his career as a print author; the enormous scandal which followed his play "L'ecole des femmes" made him the first modern writer to have his sex life dissected in the press.
Keenly alert to parallels with the currency of obscenity in contemporary America, "The Reinvention of Obscenity" will concern not only scholars of French history, but anyone interested in the intertwined histories of sex, publishing, and censorship.

Industry Reviews

"Joan DeJean's new book is a fascinating study that like so much of her work identifies some of the sources of our own modernity in practices and concepts that emerged and took characteristic form in seventeenth-century France. It is masterfully written, beautifully conceived, convincingly argued, tellingly organized, and a delight to read." - Ross Chambers, author of The Writing of Melancholy: Modes of Opposition in Early French Modernism

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Society & Culture Cultural Studies Ethical Issues & Debates Ethical Issues of Pornography & Obscenity Literature, Poetry & Plays History & Criticism of Literature General Literary Studies Biographies & True Stories Diaries, Letters & Journals Language & Linguistics Reference, Dictionaries & Guides

Education

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction: "The Words That Shock So Much at First"	p. 1
Male Practices: Theophile de Viau's "Sodomite Sonnet"	p. 29
The Heterosexual Turn: L'Ecole des filles or, When (the) Sex Began to Talk	p. 56
Two-Letter Words: Moliere's L'Ecole des femmes and Obscenity Made Modern	p. 84
Conclusion: Beyond Obscenity?	p. 122
Notes	p. 131
Works Cited	p. 183
Index	p. 193
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

The Reinvention of Obscenity

Sex, Lies, and Tabloids in Early Modern France

At a Glance

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Education

All About Starting School

All About

Mathematics Tasks for the Thinking Classroom, Grades 6-12

Corwin Mathematics Series

The Bold Move

Build Confidence & Reinvent Your Career in the Age of AI

Art Play and Inquiry

The Why, What and How of Visual Arts Education with Young Children

Noni the Pony

Noni the Pony

Finding My Way

The intimate and revelatory new memoir on growing up, first love and mental health from the global icon

Explicit Instruction

Effective and Efficient Teaching

Excel NAPLAN-style Tests

Year 2

Macbeth Cambridge School Shakespeare

Cambridge School Shakespeare

Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI)

The Power of the Well-Crafted, Well-Taught Lesson

Young Dark Emu

Winner of the 2020 CBCA Eve Pownall Award for Information Books

Teach Like a Champion 3.0

63 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College

Robust Comprehension Instruction with Questioning the Author

15 Years Smarter

Teaching Sprints

How Overloaded Educators Can Keep Getting Better

Mary Sheridan's From Birth to Five Years

5th Edition - Children's Developmental Progress

Delivering Authentic Arts Education

5th Edition

Child and Adolescent Development for Educators Australian & New Zealand Edition

2nd Edition

Teaching Language in Context

3rd Edition

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy

11th Edition

Supporting Education

4th Edition

The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading

Translating Research to Reignite Joy and Meaning in the Classroom

Decolonial Psychology

1st Edition - Academic and Activist Perspectives

Educate to Self-Regulate

Empowering Learners for Lifelong Success

Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions

11th Cengage International Edition

This product is categorised by