Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2017

 

Western Research on the History of Sexuality in the Classical Era: Changes in Contemporary Historiography

(Abstract)

 

Yi Zhaoyin

 

The flourishing of Western histories of sexuality in the classical era is closely related to the development of the women’s movement and feminist theory, the rise of new cultural history and histories of women, the realities of Western society, and the academic research of Foucault, Dover and others. This research covers a rich variety of subjects: homosexuality, sexual morality, the sex trade, hermaphrodites, masculinity, etc. Western research on the history of sexuality in ancient Greece and Rome is conducted mainly along the lines of power discourse analysis, feminist gender analysis and Freudian psychoanalysis. The three areas are not completely separate; their interactive criticisms result in interactive influence, thus promoting the further development of Western histories of classical sexuality.