Erotic Stories and Public Decency
Newspaper Reporting of Divorce Proceedings in England
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8958797 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gail Savage (St. Mary's College of Maryland, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 511-528 |
| Publication date | 1998-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Historical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0018246x98007845 |
| OpenAlex | W2011534292 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 17 |
The passage of the 1926 Judicial Proceedings (Regulation of Reports) Act prohibited the detailed reporting of divorce cases in newspapers. The voluminous press coverage of divorce cases commanded a large readership, but this very popularity had provoked anxiety about how such stories affected public morality. An overview of the range of opinion about this issue from the passage of the 1857 Divorce Act until the First World War will provide a context for an account of the steps by which the law underwent revision during the 1920s. The analysis will show both how the meaning of the public ridicule of sexual transgression changed over time and the ways in which the logically necessary but inherently unstable relationship between the erotic and public decency provided an impetus for such changes in meaning. The 1926 legislation represented one effort on the part of the state to control and to regulate that relationship. It did so, not so much to protect the individual's privacy from public scrutiny and so extend the scope of the individual's freedom of personal conduct, but in order to preserve the public decorum crucial for the maintenance of hierarchies of class, gender, and age
Censorship · Context (archaeology · Legislation · Meaning (existential · Newspaper · Political science · Popularity · Public opinion · Scrutiny · Sociology · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
We have to compliment the Aristocracy on the exhibition of their morals'
Hunnish Scenes' and a 'Virgin Birth
Adultery in Post-war England
Irish Divorce
Freedom of expression and the palladium of British liberties, 1650–2000
Revolting consumers
Reading Newspapers
Fair Wear and Tear’
A Million Little Bonds’
Ignoring the First Draft of History
Drinking in the Last Chance Saloon’
Gross Intrusions
From Redress to Farce
Representations and Counter-Representations of Domestic Violence on Clydeside Between the Two World Wars
Claiming Justice
Jessie's Dream at Lucknow
They Would if They Could
| Unique citing works | 17 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,77 |
| Citation span | 2004 - 2020 (17) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 16 |