Jan Bremmer (editor) - From Sappho to De Sade: Moments in the History of Sexuality

Routledge Revivals

From Sappho to De Sade

The history of sexuality has been the subject of increased interest in recent years and more widely acknowledged in the interpretation of past mentalits. Yet historians have only recently begun to study sexual practices in any depth, establishing that sexuality is not a biological constant but an ever-changing phenomenon, continuously shaped by people themselves.

The contributors to this inter-disciplinary collection bring their expertise in ancient as well as medieval history, anthropology, modern history, and psychology to bear upon the history of sexuality. They explore various aspects of sexuality in successive periods: pederasty and lesbian love in antiquity, incest in the Middle Ages, sexual education during the Dutch Republic, voyeurism in the rococo, prostitution in Vienna around 1900, and the invention of sexology.

From Sappho to De Sade, first published in 1989, offers an informative and entertaining collection of essays for students of cultural anthropology, social history and gender studies.

From Sappho to De Sade

Moments in the History of Sexuality

Edited by

Jan Bremmer

First published in 1989

First published in paperback in 1991

by Routledge

This edition first published in 2014 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

1989; 1991 Jan Bremmer

The right of Jan Bremmer to be identified as editor of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Publishers Note

The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer

The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 89003528

ISBN 13: 978-1-138-78124-5 (hbk)

ISBN 13: 978-1-315-77005-5 (ebk)

FROM SAPPHO TO DE SADE

Moments in the History of Sexuality

JAN BREMMER

First published 1989

First published in paperback 1991

by Routledge

11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge a division of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc. 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

1989,1991 Jan Bremmer

Printed in Great Britain by

T J Press (Padstow) Ltd.,

Padstow, Cornwall

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

From Sappho to De Sade: moments in the history of sexuality.

1. Europe. Man. Sexuality, history Sociological perspectives Sociological perspectives

I. Bremmer, Jan II. [From Sappho to De Sade English]

306.7094

ISBN 0415-02089-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Van Sappho tot De Sade. English.

From Sappho to De Sade: moments in the history of sexuality/[edited by] Jan Bremmer.

p. cm.

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

1. Sex customs Europe History. 2. Sexual ethics Europe History. I. Bremmer, Jan N. II. Title.

HQ18.E8V36 1989 1989 89-3528

306.094 dc19 CIP

ISBN 0415-06300-0 (p/b)

Contents

Jan Bremmer

Andr Lardinois

Mayke de Jong

Jan Baptist Bedaux

Mirjam Westen

Herman Roodenburg

Arnold Heumakers

Karin J. Juek

Ren Grmaux

Gert Hekma

List of illustrations

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Preface

Why was a homosexual relationship between two adults unacceptable in ancient Greece? Why did the prohibition of incest extend to the limits of kinship in the Middle Ages? Why was the nineteenth century terrified of masturbation? Why have the brothels with their madams virtually disappeared in western Europe? Psychiatrists like Freud and biologists like Kinsey would have been taken aback by these kinds of intriguing questions. Surely, people do it now in the same way as they always have?

Their approach was understandable for a time in which historians had not yet made sexuality an object of research. In fact, it is virtually only in the last decade that historians have started to study sexual practices, a field that has been all too long the playground of psychologists, biologists, and doctors with their (often wrong) ideas. And it is only now becoming possible to see that sexuality is not a biological constant but an ever-changing phenomenon, that is being continuously shaped by people themselves. Historians, therefore, should not only pay attention to the social, economic, or religious sides of sexuality but they should also, as Gert Hekma argues in his contribution to this book, become interested in the preliminaries of sexual behaviour, in the design of sexual manners, and in the choreography and architecture of sexuality. Only then shall we have a reasonably firm basis for our opinions on this fascinating side of human existence.

This collection of studies is intended as a contribution to the historical debate on sexuality that is only now getting under way. The origin of the book lies in the largest historical congress that has ever taken place in Holland: Balance and perspective; on the nature and function of the knowledge of the past (224 May 1986). At this congress, organized on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the State University of Utrecht by a group of students from the Institute for History, numerous seminars were given on the most diverse aspects of history; the seminar on sexuality was assigned to the editor of this volume. He thought it a compelling task to illustrate the historical character of sexuality. For that reason, he made up the programme in such a way that successive papers discussed various aspects of sexuality in successive periods. When this plan attracted much attention during the congress and gave rise to many lively discussions, it seemed no more than reasonable to make the lectures accessible to a wider public. For this book all the papers have been revised and, in addition, some new contributions have been invited in order to give as varied as possible a picture of the history of sexuality. Successive contributors discuss homosexuality and lesbian love in antiquity, incest in the Middle Ages, sexual education and instruction in the Dutch Republic, voyeurism and French rococo art, de Sade, prostitution in