The History of Sexuality

An Introduction

Paperback, 176 pages

English language

Published April 13, 1990 by Vintage.

ISBN:
978-0-679-72469-8
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In the History of Sexuality (Volume1) Foucault traces the history of sexuality in Europe from the Classical period to modern times in terms of shifts in the control of sexual practices. He offers a brilliant analysis of how the merely "unlawful" became the "un-natural," relating this change to his theory of power/knowledge, i.e., how specific forms of knowledge are complicit with particular forms of power. Exploring the relation of power to sex, Foucault asserts that this relation does not essentially lead to the repression of sexuality, but rather causes the production of ever-increasing discourses on sexuality.

In the Classical period, a new, stricter code governed the sexual vocabulary. Yet conversely there occurred a proliferation of discourse on sex, an incitement to discourse by the organs of power themselves. The degree of detail considered necessary to a true confession in the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages was now regarded as …

6 editions

Subjects

  • Gender studies
  • Sexual behaviour
  • Sexual behavior
  • Mind & Body
  • Philosophy
  • History & Surveys - Modern
  • Human Sexuality
  • Philosophy / General
  • History
  • Sex customs