The Courtesan and the Birth of Ars Erotica in the Kāmasūtra
A History of Erotics in the Wake of Foucault
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12363045 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sanjay K Gautam (University of Colorado Boulder, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2013-11-28 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the History of Sexuality (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1043-4070 • E-ISSN: 1535-3605 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.7560/jhs23101 |
| OpenAlex | W1862435705 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 11 |
T h i s a r T i c l e i n v e s T i g a T e s T h e role played by the courtesan in determining the nature and origin of the Kāmasūtra (Treatise on pleasure), the Sanskrit text from ancient India, in critical engagement with michel Foucault’s notion of ars erotica. In particular, this article focuses on the courtesan as the historical anchor of a subtle—but critical—affinity between erotics and the discourse and practice of theater evident in the Kāmasūtra. An understanding of this affinity is crucial for determining the nature of pleasure and the precise mode of its pursuit in this foundational text on erotics. What is at the heart of this affinity, this article contends, is the question of identity as it relates to the discourse and practice of pleasure. more generally, this article argues that it was the courtesan and the set of practices that developed around her that constituted not only the historical and cultural context of the Kāmasūtra but also one of its most important sources of ideas. The courtesan thus holds the key to both the nature and historical origin of ars erotica as it took form in India. The Kāmasūtra, attributed to Vātsyāyana, was composed in the third century of the Common Era. After its translation into English for the first time in 1883, the Kāmasūtra emerged worldwide as an iconic text in the field of erotics. Its impact in India, however, was felt far beyond its own
Aesthetics · Art · Context (archaeology · Field (mathematics · Humanities · Identity (music · Literature · Pleasure · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Classical Antiquity Studies · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Philosophy · Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.22 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2017 - 2022 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |