Reading obscenity

A narrative tradition notorious for its depiction of sex and violence developed (most infamously with the writing of the Marquis de Sade) during the European Enlightenment. Although commonly labelled `obscene', outside its legal definition, exactly what `obscenity' encompasses - its psychology, etymology, social role - is seldom considered in relation to obscene texts. Yet, if we are to talk about obscene books and obscenity it seems that, rather than taking obscenity for granted, it is crucial to ask what is the `obscene'? Why are these books obscene? To what does `obscene' apply and what reason(s) may explain why these books are intentionally obscene? These are questions which this thesis explores. It begins by considering what the obscene is and then uses Freud's theory of the Uncanny to explain why obscenity evokes complex reactions involving fear, disgust and desire. It then applies these findings to six obscene books in order to explore how the obscene operates on textual and narratorial levels. Finally, it considers how these obscene texts fall into a tradition of Western erotic literature which portrays themes of education, revealing `truths', and the motif of the female figure unveiled as a locus of `truth'. It considers how these texts use obscenity as a form of revelation and how this revelation articulates an uncompromising critique of the `progress' of modem civilisation. To illustrate this argument Chapter One provides an overview of different kinds of obscenity. Chapter Two considers the literary influences on the Marquis de Sade's Les cent vingt journees de Sodome ou 1'ecole du libertinage (1785) and in what ways Sade's first novel is obscene. Subsequent chapters trace a connection between the obscene themes and motifs of five notorious later texts: Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's Venus im Pelz (1870), Georges Bataille's Histoire de l'oeil (1928), Pauline Reage's Histoire d'O (1954), J. G. Ballard's Crash (1973) and Dennis Cooper's Frisk (1991)