Of sodomites, effeminates, hermaphrodytes, and androgynes
Subtitle: sodomy in the age of Peter Damian
By: Glenn W. Olsen
Contributors: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
Series: Studies and texts -- 176
Publisher: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies; PIMS
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Toronto
Language: eng
Number of pages: 523
ISBN-13: 9780888441768
Subjects: Sodomy; History of doctrines; Sex; Sex role; History
Description: "This book examines the history of sex and gender from a linguistic, artistic, and philosophical perspective, providing a new paradigm with which to analyze this controversial subject. Glenn Olsen's wide-ranging scholarship and his attention to primary sources and contemporary interpretations are enhanced by the inclusion of numerous illustrations of Romanesque sculpture. Part one takes the reader on a journey from the ancient worlds through the early middle ages, examining literature, art, and sculpture in order to capture the 'sexual imagination' of the period. Olsen emphasizes that all centuries had a varied languages of sex, focusing on the means by which "sex" was put into words, especially in penitentials and canon law. He shows there was no single understanding of gender and power relationships, arguing that the story of gender should encompass more than the history of power. Part two turns to Peter Damian, especially his Epistle 31, the so-called Book of Gomorrah. Olsen explores the themes of nature, sin and demonic incitement, lust, free will and effeminacy, as well as the question of whether Damian represented the onset of the persecuting society'"--Publisher's website.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [425]-503) and index.