The Sexual Culture of the French Renaissance

Reviews / Votes

'Beautifully written, lively, and original, Katherine Crawford's study of French Renaissance sexual culture makes a compelling case for reading sexuality through poetry, poetic theory, astrology, and philosophy in unusual ways. Providing an anatomy of some of the lesser-examined elements that contribute to the development of sexual ideology in a given culture, The Sexual Culture of the French Renaissance makes an important contribution, not only to the study of sexuality in Renaissance France, but to sexuality studies more generally.' Carla Freccero, University of California, Santa Cruz 'The Sexual Culture of the French Renaissance fills an important gap in the history of sexuality. Before Crawford's book, the contribution of the sixteenth-century thinkers to the creation of modern, regulatory sexuality was unclear. Crawford shows how French writers, especially poets, refigured Italian neo-Platonism and Petrarch's verse to create a distinctly French, thoroughly heterosexual normativity. French historians, literary specialists, students of gay history and Renaissance scholars of all sorts should read The Sexual Culture of the French Renaissance.' Kathryn Norberg, University of California, Los Angeles 'This is an unusual study, full of surprises. It is grounded in a deep and wide-ranging knowledge of primary sources, and an awareness of the many strands and prejudices of modern writing on sexual matters. Crawford revels in the contradictions that she handles so deftly, juggling with multiple flows of influence.' The Times Literary Supplement 'This ambitious and convincing volume ... has the merit of providing material for scholars and students in a variety of disciplines and, last but not least, is to be particularly commended for its strategic use of visual sources.' Sara F. Matthews-Grieco, European History Quarterly