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)