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Erotic literature comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of
eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...
(passionate, romantic or sexual relationships) intended to arouse similar feelings in readers. This contrasts
erotica Erotica is art, literature or photography that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erot ...
, which focuses more specifically on sexual feelings. Other common elements are
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
and
social criticism Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The origin of modern ...
. Much erotic literature features erotic art, illustrating the text. Although cultural disapproval of erotic literature has always existed, its circulation was not seen as a major problem before the invention of printing, as the costs of producing individual manuscripts limited distribution to a very small group of wealthy and
literate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...
readers. The invention of printing, in the 15th century, brought with it both a greater market and increasing restrictions, including
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
and legal restraints on publication on the grounds of
obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...
.Hyde (1964); pp. 1–26 Because of this, much of the production of this type of material became clandestine.


History


Early periods

The oldest located love poem is Istanbul 2461, an erotic monologue written by a female speaker directed to king Shu-Sin. In ancient Sumer, a whole cycle of poems revolved around the erotic lovemaking between the goddess
Inanna Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...
and her consort Dumuzid the Shepherd. In the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...
, found in the last section of the
Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. ''
ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
and
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. The Greek poets Straton of Sardis and Sappho of Lesbos both wrote erotic lyric poems. Derek Parker 404, ed. (1980) ''An Anthology of Erotic Verse''. London: Constable The poet
Archilochus Archilochus (; ''Arkhílokhos''; 680 – c. 645 BC) was a Iambus (genre) , iambic poet of the Archaic Greece, Archaic period from the island of Paros. He is celebrated for his versatile and innovative use of poetic meters, and is the earliest ...
wrote numerous satirical poems filled with obscene and erotic imagery. Erotic poems continued to be written in
Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
and Roman times by writers like Automedon (''The Professional'' and ''Demetrius the Fortunate''),
Philodemus Philodemus of Gadara (, ''Philodēmos'', "love of the people"; – prob. or 35 BC) was an Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving to Rome, and then to Herculaneum. He was once known chiefly for h ...
(''Charito'') and Marcus Argentarius. Notable Roman erotic poets included
Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...
,
Propertius Sextus Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age. He was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium (now Assisi) and died shortly after 15 BC. Propertius' surviving work comprises four books of '' Elegies'' ('). He was a friend of the ...
,
Tibullus Albius Tibullus ( BC BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins. Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a few r ...
,
Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
,
Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', pu ...
and
Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ; 55–128), was a Roman poet. He is the author of the '' Satires'', a collection of satirical poems. The details of Juvenal's life are unclear, but references in his works to people f ...
, and the anonymous Priapeia. Some later Latin authors such as Joannes Secundus also wrote erotic verse. '' Haft Peykar'' () also known as ''Bahramnameh'' (, ''The Book of Bahram'') is a romantic epic by the Persian poet
Nizami Ganjavi Nizami Ganjavi (; c. 1141 – 1209), Nizami Ganje'i, Nizami, or Nezāmi, whose formal name was Jamal ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakkī,Mo'in, Muhammad(2006), "Tahlil-i Haft Paykar-i Nezami", Tehran.: p. 2: Some commentators h ...
written in 1197. This poem is a part of the ''Nizami's Khamsa''. The original title ''Haft Peykar'' can be translated literally as "seven portraits" with the figurative meaning of "seven beauties." The poem is a masterpiece of erotic literature, but it is also a profoundly moralistic work.François de Blois
Haft Peykar
// Encyclopædia Iranica 404. — December 15, 2002. — V. XI. — pp. 522–524. During the Renaissance period, many poems were not written for publication; instead, they were merely circulated in manuscript form among a relatively limited readership. This was the original method of circulation for the ''
Sonnets A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...
'' of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, who also wrote the erotic poems '' Venus and Adonis'' and ''
The Rape of Lucrece ''The Rape of Lucrece'' (1594) is a narrative poem by William Shakespeare about the legendary Roman noblewoman Lucretia. In his previous narrative poem, ''Venus and Adonis (Shakespeare poem), Venus and Adonis'' (1593), Shakespeare had included ...
''. '' The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight'' (
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: الروض العاطر في نزهة الخاطر) is a fifteenth-century Arabic sex manual and work of erotic literature by Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Nefzawi, also known simply as "Nefzawi". The book presents opinions on what qualities men and women should have to be attractive and gives advice on sexual technique, warnings about
sexual health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Sexual and reproductive healt ...
, and recipes to remedy sexual maladies. It gives lists of names for the
penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...
and
vulva In mammals, the vulva (: vulvas or vulvae) comprises mostly external, visible structures of the female sex organ, genitalia leading into the interior of the female reproductive tract. For humans, it includes the mons pubis, labia majora, lab ...
, and has a section on the interpretation of dreams. Interspersed with these there are a number of stories which are intended to give context and amusement.


17th century

In the 17th century, John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647–80) was notorious for obscene verses, many of which were published posthumously in compendiums of poetry by him and other " Restoration
rake Rake may refer to: Common meanings * Rake (tool), a horticultural implement, a long-handled tool with tines * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (poker), the commission taken by the house when hosting a poker game ...
s" such as Sir Charles Sedley,
Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset (24 January 164329 January 1706) was an English politician, courtier and poet. Early life Sackville was born on 24 January 1643, son of Richard Sackville, 5th Earl of Dorset (1622–1677). His mother was th ...
, and
George Etherege Sir George Etherege (c. 1636 – c. 10 May 1692) was an English dramatist. He wrote the plays '' The Comical Revenge or, Love in a Tub'' in 1664, '' She Would If She Could'' in 1668, and '' The Man of Mode or, Sir Fopling Flutter'' in 1676 ...
. Though many of the poems attributed to Rochester were actually by other authors, his reputation as a
libertine A libertine is a person questioning and challenging most moral principles, such as responsibility or Human sexual activity, sexual restraints, and will often declare these traits as unnecessary, undesirable or evil. A libertine is especially som ...
was such that his name was used as a selling point by publishers of collections of erotic verse for centuries after. One poem definitely by him was "A Ramble in St. James's Park", in which the protagonist's quest for healthy exercise in the park uncovers instead "Bugg'ries, Rapes and Incest" on ground polluted by debauchery from the time when "Ancient
Pict PICT is a graphics file format introduced on the original Apple Macintosh computer as its standard metafile format. It allows the interchange of graphics (both bitmapped and vector), and some limited text support, between Mac applications, an ...
began to Whore". This poem was being censored from collections of Rochester's poetry as late as 1953, though, in line with the subsequent general change in attitudes to sexuality, it was dramatised as a scene in the film '' The Libertine'' about his life, based on an existing play. English collections of erotic verse by various hands include the ''Drollery'' collections of the 17th century; '' Pills to Purge Melancholy'' (1698–1720); the '' Roxburghe Ballads''; '' Bishop Percy's Folio''; ''The Musical Miscellany''; ''National Ballad and Song: Merry Songs and Ballads Prior to the Year AD 1800'' (1895–97) edited by J. S. Farmer; the three volume ''Poetica Erotica'' (1921) and its more obscene supplement the ''Immortalia'' (1927) both edited by T. R. Smith. French collections include ''Les Muses gaillardes'' (1606) ''Le Cabinet satyrique'' (1618) and ''La Parnasse des poetes satyriques'' (1622).


18th century

In the 18th century, a famous collection of four erotic poems, was published in England in 1763, called ''An Essay on Woman''. This included the title piece, an obscene parody of
Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...
's "
An Essay on Man "An Essay on Man" is a poem published by Alexander Pope in 1733–1734. It was dedicated to Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (pronounced 'Bull-en-brook'), hence the opening line: "Awake, my St John...". It is an effort to rationalize or ...
"; "Veni Creator: or, The Maid's Prayer", which is original; the "Universal Prayer", an obscene parody of Pope's poem of the same name, and "The Dying Lover to his Prick", which parodies "A Dying Christian to his Soul" by Pope. These poems have been attributed to
John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English Radicalism (historical), radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlese ...
and/or Thomas Potter and receive the distinction of being the only works of erotic literature ever read out loud and in their entirety in the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
—before being declared obscene and blasphemous by that body and the supposed author, Wilkes, declared an
outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...
.
Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...
worked to collect and preserve Scottish folk songs, sometimes revising, expanding, and adapting them. One of the better known of these collections is '' The Merry Muses of Caledonia'' (the title is not by Burns), a collection of bawdy lyrics that were popular in the music halls of Scotland as late as the 20th century.


19th century

One of the 19th century's foremost poets—
Algernon Charles Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He wrote many plays – all tragedies – and collections of poetry such as '' Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the Eleve ...
—devoted much of his considerable talent to erotic verse, producing, inter alia, twelve eclogues on
flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, floggin ...
titled ''The Flogging Block'' "by Rufus Rodworthy, annotated by Barebum Birchingly"; more was published anonymously in '' The Whippingham Papers'' (). Another notorious anonymous 19th-century poem on the same subject is '' The Rodiad'', ascribed (seemingly falsely and in jest) to George Colman the Younger.
John Camden Hotten John Camden Hotten (12 September 1832, Clerkenwell – 14 June 1873, Hampstead) was an English bibliophile and publisher. He is best known for his clandestine publishing of numerous erotic and pornographic titles. Life Hotten was born John Will ...
even wrote a pornographic comic opera, '' Lady Bumtickler's Revels'', on the theme of
flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, floggin ...
in 1872.
Pierre Louÿs Pierre-Félix Louÿs (; 10 December 1870 – 4 June 1925) was a Belgian poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who sought to "express pagan sensuality with stylistic perf ...
helped found a literary review, ''La Conque'' in 1891, where he proceeded to publish ''
Astarte Astarte (; , ) is the Greek language, Hellenized form of the Religions of the ancient Near East, Ancient Near Eastern goddess ʿAṯtart. ʿAṯtart was the Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic equivalent of the East Semitic language ...
''—an early collection of erotic verse already marked by his distinctive elegance and refinement of style. He followed up in 1894 with another erotic collection in 143 prose poems—'' Songs of Bilitis (Les Chansons de Bilitis)'', this time with strong
lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
themes.


20th century

Although D. H. Lawrence could be regarded as a writer of love poems, he usually dealt in the less romantic aspects of love such as sexual frustration or the sex act itself.
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...
, in his ''Literary Essays'', complained of Lawrence's interest in his own "disagreeable sensations" but praised him for his "low-life narrative". This is a reference to Lawrence's dialect poems akin to the Scots poems of
Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...
, in which he reproduced the language and concerns of the people of
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
from his youth. He called one collection of poems ''Pansies'' partly for the simple ephemeral nature of the verse but also a pun on the French word ''panser'', to dress or bandage a wound. "The Noble Englishman" and "Don't Look at Me" were removed from the official edition of ''Pansies'' on the grounds of obscenity; Lawrence felt wounded by this. From the age of 17,
Gavin Ewart Gavin Buchanan Ewart Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL (4 February 1916 – 23 October 1995) was a British poet who contributed to Geoffrey Grigson's ''New Verse'' at the age of seventeen. Early life Gavin Ewart was born in Lond ...
acquired a reputation for wit and accomplishment through such works as "Phallus in Wonderland" and "Poems and Songs", which appeared in 1939 and was his first collection. The intelligence and casually flamboyant virtuosity with which he framed his often humorous commentaries on human behaviour made his work invariably entertaining and interesting. The irreverent eroticism for which his poetry is noted resulted in
W H Smith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service st ...
's banning of his "The Pleasures of the Flesh" (1966) from their shops. Canadian poet John Glassco wrote '' Squire Hardman'' (1967), a long poem in heroic couplets, purporting to be a reprint of an 18th-century poem by George Colman the Younger, on the theme of flagellation. Italian Una Chi distinguished herself among other publications for coldly analytical prose and for the crudeness of the stories.


Other accounts


Writings of prostitutes

Prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...
was the focus of much of the earliest erotic works. The term ''pornography'' is derived from the Greek ''pornographos'' meaning "writer about prostitutes", originally denoting descriptions of the lives and manners of prostitutes and their customers in
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
. According to
Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (, or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; ) was an ancient Greek rhetorician and Grammarian (Greco-Roman), grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century ...
in ''
The Deipnosophists The ''Deipnosophistae'' (, ''Deipnosophistaí'', lit. , where ''sophists'' may be translated more loosely as ) is a work written in Ancient Greek by Athenaeus of Naucratis. It is a long work of Greek literature, literary, Ancient history, h ...
'' these constituted a considerable genre, with many lubricious treatises, stories and dramas on the subject. A surviving example of this genre is
Lucian of Samosata Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syria (region), Syrian satire, satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with whi ...
's ''Dialogues of the Courtesans''. Accounts of prostitution have continued as a major part of the genre of erotic literature. In the 18th century, directories of
prostitutes Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-p ...
and their services, such as '' Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies'' (1757–1795), provided both entertainment and instruction. In the 19th century, the sensational journalism of W. T. Stead's '' The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon'' (1885) about the procuring of underage girls into the brothels of Victorian London provided a stimulus for the erotic imagination. Stead's account was widely translated and the revelation of "padded rooms for the purpose of stifling the cries of the tortured victims of lust and brutality" and the symbolic figure of "The Minotaur of London" confirmed European observers worst imaginings about "Le Sadisme anglais" and inspired erotic writers to write of similar scenes set in London or involving sadistic English gentlemen. Such writers include D'Annunzio in ''Il Piacere'', Paul-Jean Toulet in ''Monsieur de Paur'' (1898), Octave Mirbeau in '' Jardin des Supplices'' (1899) and Jean Lorrain in ''Monsieur de Phocas'' (1901). Well-known recent works in this genre are '' The Happy Hooker: My Own Story'' (1971) by the Dutch madame Xaviera Hollander and '' The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl'' (2005) by Belle de Jour.


Writings of students

In the 21st century, a new
literary genre A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by List of narrative techniques, literary technique, Tone (literature), tone, Media (communication), content, or length (especially for fiction). They generally move from mor ...
of
student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...
published journals at American universities was started. The following is a partial list of publications: * ''The Moderator'' –
Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...
* ''Virgin Mawrtyr'' –
Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...
* ''H-Bomb'' –
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
* ''Quake'' –
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
* ''Squirm'' –
Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...
* ''Vita Excolatur'' –
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
* ''Bang'' and Untouchables Swarthmore College#Media –
Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...
* '' Boink'' –
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...


Sex manual

Sex manuals are among the oldest forms of erotic literature. Three brief fragments of a sex manual written in the fourth century BC that is attributed to Philaenis of Samos have survived. Modern scholars generally regard it as a work of
parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
probably written by a man, and this was most likely Athenian sophist
Polycrates Polycrates (; ), son of Aeaces (father of Polycrates), Aeaces, was the tyrant of Samos from the 540s BC to 522 BC. He had a reputation as both a fierce warrior and an enlightened tyrant. Sources The main source for Polycrates' life and activi ...
. Other examples of the genre from the classical world include the lost works of Elephantis and
Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
's . The Indian ''
Kama Sutra The ''Kama Sutra'' (; , , ; ) is an ancient Indian Hindu Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kamasutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly a sex manual on sex positions ...
'' is one of the world's best-known works of this type. The '' Ananga Ranga'', a 12th-century collection of Indian erotic works, is a lesser known one. '' The Perfumed Garden for the Soul's Recreation'', a 16th-century
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
work by Sheikh Nefzaoui, is also well-known and is often reprinted and translated. There is anecdotal evidence that, as late as the mid-20th century, sex therapists and other physicians prescribed erotic literature as treatment for erectile dysfunction. The ancient Chinese versions of the sex manual include the texts that contain the Taoist sexual practices. These include books that show illustrations of the ideal sexual behavior because sex in this religion is not considered taboo but a manifestation of the concept of the
yin and yang Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...
, wherein the male and female engage in an act of "joining of energy" or "joining of essences". The belief is that proper sexual practice is key to achieving good health. The manuals included the Ishinpo text, which is a medical document that also included sections devoted to sexual hygiene and sexual manuals of the Tang and Han dynasties.
Qigong Qigong ()) is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation said to be useful for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese medicine, Chin ...
manuals include warming a wet towel and covering penis for a few minutes, then rubbing one direction away from base of penis hundreds of times daily, similar to qigong. Squeezing sphincter while semi-erect or fully erect dozens of times daily, particularly a few hours before intercourse will help delay orgasm or enhance non-ejaculatory pleasure. The Universal Tao system was developed by Mantak Chia to teach Taoist meditative and exercise techniques to balance the body and increase and refine one's vital energy, or '' qi''. Front and back channel, the back channel is where the perineum is located between anus and scrotum moving up the tailbone to the crown, the front channel is moving down the front of your body down the midline. Breathing up the back channel and then breathing out from the front channel down to and from the abdomen moves chi. Many practices combined help chi to be transformed into spiritual energy or '' shen''. Not all sex manuals were produced to arouse or inform readers about sexual acts. Some were created as a form of satire or social criticism, as in the case of a mock-sex manual produced in the early sixteenth century by
Pietro Aretino Pietro Aretino (, ; 19 or 20 April 1492 – 21 October 1556) was an Italian author, playwright, poet, satire, satirist and blackmailer, who wielded influence on contemporary art and politics. He was one of the most influential writers of his ti ...
. It was in response to the clerical censorship of the nude engravings of the Roman artists Marcantonio Raimondi. This was released in cheap wood, with a corresponding sonnet serving as the voice of the characters.


Erotic memoir

Erotic memoirs are a subgenre of erotic literature that blend personal experiences with sensual storytelling.


Erotic fiction

Erotic fiction is a
genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
of
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
that portrays sex or sexual themes, generally in a more literary way than the fiction seen in
pornographic magazines Pornographic magazines or erotic magazines, sometimes known as adult magazines or sex magazines, are magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature. Publications of this kind may contain images of attractive naked subjects, as is ...
. It sometimes includes elements of
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
or
social criticism Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The origin of modern ...
. These types of fiction have frequently been banned by the government or religious authorities.


Legal status


Early legislation


To 1857

Erotic or pornographic works have often been prosecuted, censored and destroyed by the authorities on grounds of obscenity. In medieval England, erotic or pornographic publications were the concern of the ecclesiastical courts. After the Reformation the jurisdiction of these courts declined in favour of the Crown, which licensed every printed book. Prosecutions of books for their erotic content alone were rare and works which attacked the church or state gave much more concern to the authorities than erotica or ' obscene libel' as it was then known. For instance the Licensing Act 1662 was aimed generally at "heretical, seditious, schismatical or offensive books of pamphlets" rather than just erotica per se. Even this Licensing Act was allowed to lapse in 1695 and no attempt made to renew it. The first conviction for
obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...
in England occurred in 1727, when Edmund Curll was fined for the publication of '' Venus in the Cloister or The Nun in her Smock'' under the
common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
offence of disturbing the King's peace. This set a
legal precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...
for other convictions. The publication of other books by Curll, however, considered seditious and blasphemous, such as ''The Memoirs of John Ker'', apparently most offended the authorities. Prosecutions of erotica later in the 18th century were rare and were most often taken because of the admixture of seditious and blasphemous material with the porn.


1857–1959

It was the Obscene Publications Act 1857 which made the sale of obscene material a statutory offense, giving the courts power to seize and destroy offending material. The origins of the act itself were in a trial for the sale of pornography presided over by the
Lord Chief Justice The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...
, Lord Campbell, at the same time as a debate in the House of Lords over a bill aiming to restrict the sale of poisons. Campbell was taken by the analogy between the two situations, famously referring to the London pornography trade as "a sale of poison more deadly than prussic acid, strychnine or arsenic", and proposed a bill to restrict the sale of pornography; giving statutory powers of destruction would allow for a much more effective degree of prosecution. The bill was controversial at the time, receiving strong opposition from both
Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...
. It was passed on the assurance by the Lord Chief Justice that it was "intended to apply exclusively to works written for the single purpose of corrupting the morals of youth and of a nature calculated to shock the common feelings of decency in any well-regulated mind." The House of Commons successfully amended it so as not to apply to Scotland, on the grounds that Scottish common law was sufficiently stringent. The Act provided for the seizure and destruction of any material deemed to be obscene, and held for sale or distribution, following information being laid before a "court of summary jurisdiction" (
magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several Jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) ...
). The Act required that following evidence of a common-law offence being committed – for example, on the report of a plain-clothes policeman who had successfully purchased the material – the court could issue a warrant for the premises to be searched and the material seized. The proprietor then would be called upon to attend court and give reason why the material should not be destroyed. Critically, the Act did not define "obscene", leaving this to the will of the courts. While the Act itself did not change, the scope of the work affected by it did. In 1868 Sir Alexander Cockburn, Campbell's successor as Lord Chief Justice, held in an appeal that the test of obscenity was "whether the tendency of the matter charged as obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall." This was clearly a major change from Campbell's opinion only ten years before – the test now being the effect on someone open to corruption who obtained a copy, not whether the material was ''intended'' to corrupt or offend. Cockburn's declaration remained in force for several decades, and most of the high profile seizures under the Act relied on this interpretation. Known as the Hicklin test no cognisance was taken of the literary merit of a book or on the extent of the offending text within the book in question. The widened scope of the original legislation led to the subsequent notorious targeting of now acknowledged classics of world literature by such authors as Zola,
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
and D.H. Lawrence plus medical textbooks by such as
Havelock Ellis Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, Progressivism, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on h ...
rather than the blatant erotica which was the original target of this law. In contrast to England, where actions against obscene literature were the preserve of the magistrates, such actions were the responsibility of the Postal Inspection Service in America. They were embodied in the federal and state
Comstock laws The Comstock Act of 1873 is a series of current provisions in federal law that generally criminalize the involvement of the United States Postal Service, its officers, or a common carrier in conveying obscene matter, crime-inciting matter, or c ...
and named after the postal officer and anti-obscenity crusader
Anthony Comstock Anthony Comstock (; March7, 1844 – September21, 1915) was an American anti-vice activist, United States Postal Inspector, and secretary of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV), who was dedicated to upholding Christian mo ...
, who proved himself officious in the work of suppression both in his official capacity and through his
New York Society for the Suppression of Vice The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV or SSV) was an organization dedicated to supervising the morality of the public, founded in 1873. Its specific mission was to monitor compliance with state laws and work with the courts and d ...
. The first such law was the Comstock Act, (ch. 258 enacted March 3, 1873) which made it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, and/or lascivious" materials through the mail. Twenty-four states passed similar prohibitions on materials distributed within the states.


Modern legislation

This question of whether a book had literary merit eventually prompted a change in the law in both America and the UK. In the United Kingdom the
Obscene Publications Act 1959 The Obscene Publications Act 1959 ( 7 & 8 Eliz. 2. c. 66) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom Parliament, which significantly reformed the law related to obscenity in England and Wales. Before the passage of the Act, the law on publis ...
provided for the protection of "literature" but conversely increased the penalties against pure "pornography." The law defined obscenity and separated it from serious works of art. The new definition read:
article shall be deemed to be obscene if its effect or (where the article comprises two or more distinct items) the effect of any one of its items is, if taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.
After this piece of legislation questions of the literary merit of the work in question were allowed to be put before the judge and jury as in the '' Lady Chatterley'' trial. The publishers of the latter book were found not guilty by the court on the grounds of the literary merit of the book. In later prosecutions of literary erotica under the provisions of the act, however, even purely pornographic works with no apparent literary merit escaped destruction by the authorities. Purely textual pornographic texts, with no hint of
libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
, ceased to be brought to trial following the collapse of the ''Inside Linda Lovelace'' trial in 1976. However, in October 2008, a man was unsuccessfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act (the '' R v Walker'' trial) for posting fictional written material to the Internet allegedly describing the kidnap, rape and murder of the pop group
Girls Aloud Girls Aloud are a British-Irish pop music, pop girl group that was created through the ITV (TV network), ITV talent show ''Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl (singer), Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, N ...
. The
First Amendment to the United States Constitution The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents Federal government of the United States, Congress from making laws respecting an Establishment Clause, establishment of religion; prohibiting the Free Exercise Cla ...
gives protection to written fiction, although the legal presumption that it does not protect obscene literature has never been overcome. Instead, pornography has successfully been defined legally as non-obscene, or "obscene" been shown to be so vague a term as to be unenforceable. In 1998 Brian Dalton was charged with creation and possession of child pornography under an Ohio obscenity law. The stories were works of fiction concerning sexually abusing children which he wrote and kept, unpublished, in his private journal. He accepted a plea bargain, pleaded guilty and was convicted. Five years later, the conviction was vacated. Importing books and texts across national borders can sometimes be subject to more stringent laws than in the nations concerned. Customs officers are often permitted to seize even merely 'indecent' works that would be perfectly legal to sell and possess once one is inside the nations concerned.
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
has been implicated in such border seizures. Although the Obscene Publications Act of 1857, as well as 1959 legislation, outlawed the publication, retail and trafficking of certain types of writings and images regarded as pornographic, and would order the destruction of shop and warehouse stock meant for sale, the private possession of and viewing of pornography was not prosecuted in those times.H. Montgomery Hyde ''A History of Pornography''. (1969) London, Heinemann: 14 In some nations, even purely textual erotic literature is still deemed illegal and is also prosecuted.


See also


Notes


References

* Brulotte, Gaëtan & Phillips, John (eds.) (2006) ''Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature.'' New York: Routledge * Gibson, Ian (2001) ''The Erotomaniac'' London: Faber & Faber * H. Montgomery Hyde (1964) ''A History of Pornography''. London: Heinemann * Kearney, Patrick J. (1982) ''A History of Erotic Literature'', Parragon, * Kronhausen, Phyllis & Eberhard (1959) ''Pornography and the Law, The Psychology of Erotic Realism and Pornography''. New York: Ballantine Books * Kronhausen, Phyllis & Eberhard (1969) ''Erotic Fantasies, a Study of Sexual Imagination''. New York: Grove Press * Muchembled, Robert (2008) ''Orgasm and the West: a history of pleasure from the 16th century to the present'',
Polity A polity is a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of political Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any group of people org ...
, * * Weller, Michael J. ''The Secret Blue Book''. Home Baked Book

London. * Linda Williams (film critic), Williams, Linda (1999) ''Hardcore: Power, Pleasure, and the 'Frenzy of the Visible. Berkeley: University of California Press


Further reading

* With an introduction by G. Legman. * * * * * * * * A Bibliography of Works Published by Charles Carrington *


History


General

* Atkins, John (1970) ''Sex in Literature'', 4 vols. 1970–1982 * Bertolotti, Alessandro. Curiosa la bibliotheque érotique. Paris, Editions La Martiniere, 2012, * Di Folco, Philippe, ed. (2005) ''Dictionnaire de la pornographie''. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, * Englisch, Paul (1927) ''Geschichte der erotischen Literatur'', 1927, Reprint 1977, * Fischer, Carolin (1997) ''Gärten der Lust: eine Geschichte erregender Lektüren'', Stuttgart; Weimar: Metzler , paperback: München: Dt. Taschenbuch-Verlag, 2000 * Gnüg, Hiltrud (2002) ''Der erotische Roman: von der Renaissance bis zur Gegenwart'', Ditzingen: Reclam * Kronhausen, Eberhard & Phyllis (1969) ''Bücher aus dem Giftschrank: eine Analyse der verbotenen und verfemten erotischen Literatur'' * Pia, Pascal, ed. (1971) ''Dictionnaire des œuvres érotiques''. Paris: Mercure de France * Schreiber, Hermann (1969) ''Erotische Texte: sexualpathologische Erscheinungen in der Literatur'' * Spedding, Patrick, curator (2010)
Lewd and Scandalous Books: An exhibition of material from the Monash University Library Rare Books Collection
'', Clayton (Melbourne): Monash University,


Ancient world and Middle Ages

* Leick, G. (1994) ''Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature'' * Mulchandani, S. (2006) ''Erotic Literature of Ancient India: Kama Sutra, Koka Shastra, Gita Govindam, Ananga Ranga''


Modern times to 1900

* Goulemot, J. (1993) ''Gefährliche Bücher: erotische Literatur, Pornographie, Leser und Zensur im 18. Jahrhundert'' * Moulton, I. (2000) ''Before Pornography: erotic writing in early modern Europe''


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erotic Literature Literary genres