Title: In praise of the whip : a cultural history of arousal /
Authors: Largier, Niklaus, 1957-; Harman, Graham, 1968-
Publisher: Zone Books ; Distrubuted by the MIT Press,
Year: 2007
Subjects: Flagellation History.; Sadomasochism History.
Abstract: "In Praise of the Whip: A Cultural History of Arousal is a new history of voluntary flagellation in Europe, from its invention in medieval religious devotion to its use in the modern pornographic imagination. Working with a wide range of religious, literary, and medical texts and images, Niklaus Largier explores the emotional and sensual, religious and erotic excitement of the whip, a crucial instrument of stimulation in devotional and sexual practices."--Jacket.
Contents: pt. 1. Ascesis -- I. Suffering, transfiguration, and the scourge -- II. In praise of the whip -- III. The theater of the flagellants -- IV. Arousing images -- pt. 2. Erotics -- V. The priest, the woman, and the divine marquis -- VI. The "English vice" -- pt. 3. Therapeutics -- VII. The "healing whip" -- VIII. Pico's friend; or, the basis of flagellomania.