Exploring the concept of virilité in France since the Eighteenth century, this volume provides a critical and comprehensive analysis of masculinity through the lens of cultural and social history. By integrating interdisciplinary perspectives, it delves into the complexities of how masculinities have been perceived and constructed, making it an engaging read for a diverse audience interested in gender studies and cultural history.
Friedrich Nietzsche's descent into madness prevented him from achieving his dream of seeing Paris, but his philosophical alter-ego Zarathustra took the City of Light by storm, raising sharp debates among the political and cultural avant-garde about the very foundations of modern philosophy, social thought and political life. This intellectual history reveals Nietzsche's impact upon the French life of the mind and clarifies the crisis in European thought that foreshadowed and helped bring about World War I.
The Dreyfus Affair serves as a lens through which historian Christopher E. Forth explores French societal anxieties regarding masculinity and modernity. He examines how the rhetoric and imagery from this pivotal moment influenced discussions about French manhood, continuing into the First World War. By analyzing the intersection of gender and national identity, Forth sheds light on the evolving perceptions of masculinity in France during a time of significant social and political upheaval.
Fat: such a little word evokes big responses. While ‘fat’ describes the size and shape of bodies, our negative reactions to corpulent bodies also depend on something tangible and tactile; as this book argues, there is more to fat than meets the eye. Fat: A Cultural History of the Stuff of Life offers a historical reflection on how fat has been perceived and imagined in the West since antiquity. Featuring fascinating historical accounts, philosophical, religious and cultural arguments, including discussions of status, gender and race, the book digs deep into the past for the roots of our current notions and prejudices. Three central themes emerge: how we have perceived and imagined obesity over the centuries; how fat as a substance has elicited disgust and how it evokes perceptions of animality; but also how it has been associated with vitality and fertility. By exploring the complex ways in which fat, fatness and fattening have been perceived over time, this book provides rich insights into the stuff our stereotypes are made of.
The book delves into the historical emergence of sexuality as a central concept in society, tracing its development since the late nineteenth century. It examines how this notion was shaped by cultural forces and engaged with existing ideas of personal identity. The analysis reveals that the establishment of sexuality's centrality involved displacing various competing discourses, highlighting its complex relationship with race, gender, and other differences. The text argues that this assertion is not merely theoretical, but intertwined with broader societal representations and practices.