2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Historical Study on the Rise of Pornography in Eighteenth-Century England
| Project/Area Number |
17520141
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
ヨーロッパ語系文学
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| Research Institution | Otaru University of Commerce |
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Principal Investigator |
YOSHIDA Naoki Otaru University of Commerce, Center for Language Studies, Associate Professor (90261396)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2005 – 2007
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| Keywords | Eighteenth Century / England / Postcolonial / Gender / Erotica |
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| Research Abstract |
The purpose of this research is to clarify the problematic of class, race, and gender in eighteenth-century Eland. By focusing on the erotic representations in John Cleland's Fanny Hill, I have tried to make up a foundation of post gender / sexuality criticism.
For the first year, I made it clear how John Gay's The Beggar's Opera signifies the racial conflicts in eighteenth-century global system. Also I have examined the recent gender criticism which deals with the relations between the original and its copy in terms of subjectivity. This leads to the investigation of the various binary oppositions in the fictional world: empire / colony, nobility / savage, or motherhood / childhood. Then, in the second year, I examined the importance of new historical approaches to Fanny Hill in order to understand the modern subjectivity in the pornography. Fanny Hill, a typical example of eighteenth-century "unreliable" narrator could be interpreted as a unique erotica writer in the modem England. Lastly, I extend my research perspective to the contemporary animation. I examined the historical process of artistic developments and popularity of erotic art. For example, by putting together Ukiyoes of Edo period and William Hogarth's engravings such as A Harlot's Progress, I discussed the synchronic significance of our interest in the representations of innocent girls.
Through this research project I could clarify the fictional importance of our recognitions of reality in which we become an enigmatic existence in the pre/post colonial world.
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