The idea behind the ‘Erotic’ Blog is to promote the development of discussion on themes raised within the network, away from the conferences or individual e-mails. This is a space where members can develop their ideas in a community of enquiry, developing their understandings of what the erotic is, its meanings and how it manifests, with what effects, in contemporary society, as well as understanding its presence, meaning and impact on the past.  I would encourage members to pose questions, provide answers and generally engage in what is hopefully a scholarly catalyst to learning and sharing knowledge on the erotic.

I want to start the ball rolling by asking a question: In the last five erotic conferences, what we have had common agreement about is that erotic manifests differently in different cultures, different conjunctures, different communities and different contexts. If that is the case, perhaps a good place to start discussion is with the question: do we need the erotic? What is it about what is erotic that adds to, for example, our understanding of the sexual. You might want to be prompted by a short reading - What is the Erotic?” - http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/critical-issues/transformations/the-erotic/project-archives/4th/session-1-erotic-contemplations/ - by Bob Brecher, in which he identifies key themes as sex, deferral, transgression and persona. Would you add any to that list? Subtract any? Does this start the discussion of the usefulness of the concept of the erotic? And what is the erotic useful for?

Contributions, conjectures and responses welcome

Paul

Welcome to the blog which supports the work of the The Erotic inter-disciplinary research and publications project.

The blog will commence in the next fortnight