Foucault and the Kamasutra

Foucault and the Kamasutra

Author: Sanjay K. Gautam

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2016-06-22

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 022634844X

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Gautam has here laid out the first serious reading of Michel Foucault in relation to key Sanskrit texts, and--what may be a surprise to many--he has written the first book-length work in English on the nature and origin of the Kamasutra. Gautam also takes up the Natyasastra (the Kamasutra's twin), locating in the first the themes of sexual-erotic pleasure, and locating in the second the classical Indian view of theater, music, dance, and aesthetic pleasure. The book shows how closely intertwined the history of erotics in ancient Indian culture is with the history of theater-aesthetics. Foucault provides a framework for opening up the intellectual horizon of Indian thought; it is his distinction between ars erotics (erotic arts) and scientia sexualis (science of sexuality) that fuels Gautam's exploration of the courtesan as symbol of both erotic and aesthetic pleasure, particularly in her role as a wife to her patron, which entails the morphing of erotics into a form of theater. The scope broadens ambitiously, to an inquiry on the nature of knowledge formation, erotics, theater, and gender relations in premodern Indian society and culture--as they converged on the historical figures of the courtesan and her male counterpart, the dandy. Gautam's twining of aims and subjects--Foucault's western philosophy of pleasure and India's classic text on eros (anchored in art and aesthetics)--transforms both the modern and the ancient texts with new understandings, and as new forms of investigating erotics and subjectivity itself.


Book Synopsis Foucault and the Kamasutra by : Sanjay K. Gautam

Download or read book Foucault and the Kamasutra written by Sanjay K. Gautam and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-06-22 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gautam has here laid out the first serious reading of Michel Foucault in relation to key Sanskrit texts, and--what may be a surprise to many--he has written the first book-length work in English on the nature and origin of the Kamasutra. Gautam also takes up the Natyasastra (the Kamasutra's twin), locating in the first the themes of sexual-erotic pleasure, and locating in the second the classical Indian view of theater, music, dance, and aesthetic pleasure. The book shows how closely intertwined the history of erotics in ancient Indian culture is with the history of theater-aesthetics. Foucault provides a framework for opening up the intellectual horizon of Indian thought; it is his distinction between ars erotics (erotic arts) and scientia sexualis (science of sexuality) that fuels Gautam's exploration of the courtesan as symbol of both erotic and aesthetic pleasure, particularly in her role as a wife to her patron, which entails the morphing of erotics into a form of theater. The scope broadens ambitiously, to an inquiry on the nature of knowledge formation, erotics, theater, and gender relations in premodern Indian society and culture--as they converged on the historical figures of the courtesan and her male counterpart, the dandy. Gautam's twining of aims and subjects--Foucault's western philosophy of pleasure and India's classic text on eros (anchored in art and aesthetics)--transforms both the modern and the ancient texts with new understandings, and as new forms of investigating erotics and subjectivity itself.


Foucault and the Kamasutra

Foucault and the Kamasutra

Author: Sanjay K. Gautam

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2016-06-22

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 022634858X

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The Kamasutra is best known in the West for its scandalous celebration of unbridled sensuality. Yet, there is much, much more to it; embedded in the text is a vision of the city founded on art and aesthetic pleasure. In Foucault and the "Kamasutra", Sanjay K. Gautam lays out the nature and origin of this iconic Indian text and engages in the first serious reading of its relationship with Foucault. Gautam shows how closely intertwined the history of erotics in Indian culture is with the history of theater-aesthetics grounded in the discourse of love, and Foucault provides the framework for opening up an intellectual horizon of Indian thought. To do this, Gautam looks to the history of three inglorious characters in classical India: the courtesan and her two closest male companions—her patron, the dandy consort; and her teacher and advisor, the dandy guru. Foucault’s distinction between erotic arts and the science of sexuality drives Gautam’s exploration of the courtesan as a symbol of both sexual-erotic and aesthetic pleasure. In the end, by entwining together Foucault’s works on the history of sexuality in the West and the classical Indian texts on eros, Gautam transforms our understanding of both, even as he opens up new ways of investigating erotics, aesthetics, gender relations, and subjectivity.


Book Synopsis Foucault and the Kamasutra by : Sanjay K. Gautam

Download or read book Foucault and the Kamasutra written by Sanjay K. Gautam and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-06-22 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Kamasutra is best known in the West for its scandalous celebration of unbridled sensuality. Yet, there is much, much more to it; embedded in the text is a vision of the city founded on art and aesthetic pleasure. In Foucault and the "Kamasutra", Sanjay K. Gautam lays out the nature and origin of this iconic Indian text and engages in the first serious reading of its relationship with Foucault. Gautam shows how closely intertwined the history of erotics in Indian culture is with the history of theater-aesthetics grounded in the discourse of love, and Foucault provides the framework for opening up an intellectual horizon of Indian thought. To do this, Gautam looks to the history of three inglorious characters in classical India: the courtesan and her two closest male companions—her patron, the dandy consort; and her teacher and advisor, the dandy guru. Foucault’s distinction between erotic arts and the science of sexuality drives Gautam’s exploration of the courtesan as a symbol of both sexual-erotic and aesthetic pleasure. In the end, by entwining together Foucault’s works on the history of sexuality in the West and the classical Indian texts on eros, Gautam transforms our understanding of both, even as he opens up new ways of investigating erotics, aesthetics, gender relations, and subjectivity.


Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault

Author: Dan Beer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-12-02

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 1351198017

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"This is a study of the French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault's 1976 work ""La Volonte de Savoir"". Dan Beer aims to uncover a network of ideas and linguistic patterns beneath the surface of the text. Through close textual analysis he addresses the issue of language and its effects on the world we inhabit. The book covers a range of references from the forgotten narratives of 19th-century European psychiatry, examining the scope of confessional literature, to the heated debates that surround Foucault's language and ideas."


Book Synopsis Michel Foucault by : Dan Beer

Download or read book Michel Foucault written by Dan Beer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-12-02 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a study of the French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault's 1976 work ""La Volonte de Savoir"". Dan Beer aims to uncover a network of ideas and linguistic patterns beneath the surface of the text. Through close textual analysis he addresses the issue of language and its effects on the world we inhabit. The book covers a range of references from the forgotten narratives of 19th-century European psychiatry, examining the scope of confessional literature, to the heated debates that surround Foucault's language and ideas."


Against Dharma

Against Dharma

Author: Wendy Doniger

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2018-01-01

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 030021619X

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Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Note on the Translations and Transliterations -- Timeline: Relevant Events and Historical Developments -- ONE. The Three Human Aims -- TWO. The Influence of the Arthashastra on the Kamasutra -- THREE. Dharma and Adharma in the Arthashastra -- FOUR. Adharma and Dharma in the Kamasutra -- FIVE. Glossing Adharma with Dharma -- SIX. Skepticism and Materialism in Ancient India -- SEVEN. Epilogue: Dhairma and the Subversion of Science -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y


Book Synopsis Against Dharma by : Wendy Doniger

Download or read book Against Dharma written by Wendy Doniger and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Note on the Translations and Transliterations -- Timeline: Relevant Events and Historical Developments -- ONE. The Three Human Aims -- TWO. The Influence of the Arthashastra on the Kamasutra -- THREE. Dharma and Adharma in the Arthashastra -- FOUR. Adharma and Dharma in the Kamasutra -- FIVE. Glossing Adharma with Dharma -- SIX. Skepticism and Materialism in Ancient India -- SEVEN. Epilogue: Dhairma and the Subversion of Science -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y


The History of Sexuality, Vol. 2

The History of Sexuality, Vol. 2

Author: Michel Foucault

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2012-04-18

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0307819272

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In this sequel to The History of Sexuality, Volume I: An Introduction, the brilliantly original French thinker who died in 1984 gives an analysis of how the ancient Greeks perceived sexuality. Throughout The Use of Pleasure Foucault analyzes an irresistible array of ancient Greek texts on eroticism as he tries to answer basic questions: How in the West did sexual experience become a moral issue? And why were other appetites of the body, such as hunger, and collective concerns, such as civic duty, not subjected to the numberless rules and regulations and judgments that have defined, if not confined, sexual behavior?


Book Synopsis The History of Sexuality, Vol. 2 by : Michel Foucault

Download or read book The History of Sexuality, Vol. 2 written by Michel Foucault and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2012-04-18 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this sequel to The History of Sexuality, Volume I: An Introduction, the brilliantly original French thinker who died in 1984 gives an analysis of how the ancient Greeks perceived sexuality. Throughout The Use of Pleasure Foucault analyzes an irresistible array of ancient Greek texts on eroticism as he tries to answer basic questions: How in the West did sexual experience become a moral issue? And why were other appetites of the body, such as hunger, and collective concerns, such as civic duty, not subjected to the numberless rules and regulations and judgments that have defined, if not confined, sexual behavior?


The History of Sexuality, Vol. 3

The History of Sexuality, Vol. 3

Author: Michel Foucault

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 1988-11-28

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0394741552

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Michel Foucault takes us into the first two centuries of our own era, into the Golden Age of Rome, to reveal a subtle but decisive break from the classical Greek vision of sexual pleasure. He skillfully explores the whole corpus of moral reflection among philosophers (Plutarch, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca) and physicians of the era, and uncovers an increasing mistrust of pleasure and growing anxiety over sexual activity and its consequences.


Book Synopsis The History of Sexuality, Vol. 3 by : Michel Foucault

Download or read book The History of Sexuality, Vol. 3 written by Michel Foucault and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1988-11-28 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michel Foucault takes us into the first two centuries of our own era, into the Golden Age of Rome, to reveal a subtle but decisive break from the classical Greek vision of sexual pleasure. He skillfully explores the whole corpus of moral reflection among philosophers (Plutarch, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca) and physicians of the era, and uncovers an increasing mistrust of pleasure and growing anxiety over sexual activity and its consequences.


The History of Sexuality

The History of Sexuality

Author: Michel Foucault

Publisher:

Published: 1984

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 9780140551549

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Book Synopsis The History of Sexuality by : Michel Foucault

Download or read book The History of Sexuality written by Michel Foucault and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


The Book of Minor Perverts

The Book of Minor Perverts

Author: Benjamin Kahan

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2019-02-05

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 022660795X

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Shortlisted for the Modernist Studies Assocation Book Prize Statue-fondlers, wanderlusters, sex magicians, and nymphomaniacs: the story of these forgotten sexualities—what Michel Foucault deemed “minor perverts”—has never before been told. In The Book of Minor Perverts, Benjamin Kahan sets out to chart the proliferation of sexual classification that arose with the advent of nineteenth-century sexology. The book narrates the shift from Foucault’s “thousand aberrant sexualities” to one: homosexuality. The focus here is less on the effects of queer identity and more on the lines of causation behind a surprising array of minor perverts who refuse to fit neatly into our familiar sexual frameworks. The result stands at the intersection of history, queer studies, and the medical humanities to offer us a new way of feeling our way into the past.


Book Synopsis The Book of Minor Perverts by : Benjamin Kahan

Download or read book The Book of Minor Perverts written by Benjamin Kahan and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-02-05 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shortlisted for the Modernist Studies Assocation Book Prize Statue-fondlers, wanderlusters, sex magicians, and nymphomaniacs: the story of these forgotten sexualities—what Michel Foucault deemed “minor perverts”—has never before been told. In The Book of Minor Perverts, Benjamin Kahan sets out to chart the proliferation of sexual classification that arose with the advent of nineteenth-century sexology. The book narrates the shift from Foucault’s “thousand aberrant sexualities” to one: homosexuality. The focus here is less on the effects of queer identity and more on the lines of causation behind a surprising array of minor perverts who refuse to fit neatly into our familiar sexual frameworks. The result stands at the intersection of history, queer studies, and the medical humanities to offer us a new way of feeling our way into the past.


The History of Sexuality

The History of Sexuality

Author: Michel Foucault

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 9780141037646

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Michel Foucault's The Will to Knowledge is the first part of his influential trilogy of books on the history of sexuality. He argues that the recent explosion of discussion about sex in the West means that, far from being liberated, we are in the process of making a science of sexuality that is devoted to the analysis of desire rather than the increase of pleasure. This is a brilliant polemic from a groundbreaking radical intellectual.


Book Synopsis The History of Sexuality by : Michel Foucault

Download or read book The History of Sexuality written by Michel Foucault and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michel Foucault's The Will to Knowledge is the first part of his influential trilogy of books on the history of sexuality. He argues that the recent explosion of discussion about sex in the West means that, far from being liberated, we are in the process of making a science of sexuality that is devoted to the analysis of desire rather than the increase of pleasure. This is a brilliant polemic from a groundbreaking radical intellectual.


The History of Sexuality

The History of Sexuality

Author: Michel Foucault

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 1990-04-14

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 9780679724698

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Why we are so fascinated with sex and sexuality—from the preeminent philosopher of the 20th century. Michel Foucault offers an iconoclastic exploration of why we feel compelled to continually analyze and discuss sex, and of the social and mental mechanisms of power that cause us to direct the questions of what we are to what our sexuality is.


Book Synopsis The History of Sexuality by : Michel Foucault

Download or read book The History of Sexuality written by Michel Foucault and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1990-04-14 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why we are so fascinated with sex and sexuality—from the preeminent philosopher of the 20th century. Michel Foucault offers an iconoclastic exploration of why we feel compelled to continually analyze and discuss sex, and of the social and mental mechanisms of power that cause us to direct the questions of what we are to what our sexuality is.