Project Leader: Paul Reynolds
Reader in Sociology and Social Philosophy, Programme Leader in Sociology and Social Psychology, Edge Hill University, UK
Welcome to The Erotic project home page. The challenging
and paradoxical nature of the 'erotic' has enjoyed a resurgence of
status and attention within the academy. However, in recent times
much of this work has become increasingly specialised within disciplinary
boundaries. The effect of this has been twofold; first, there is a
failure to recognise cross-disciplinary connections which centre on
this theme and second, it neglects important historical
and cultural perspectives on the development of the 'erotic' as a locus
of attention.
This project aims to instigate inter-disciplinary dialogues which will enable a clearer awareness of the historical and cultural developments of the 'erotic' and simultaneously explore cross-disciplinary perspectives on its current forms and manifestations.
The project will critically engage with a number of core themes:
- Inter-disciplinary approaches to the erotic
- Understanding eroticism and the 'erotic'
- History of the erotic
- The erotic and phases of human development
- National and cultural histories of the erotic
- Sexuality and the erotic
- The politics of the erotic inc. issues of censorship and transgression
- The ethics of the erotic
- The erotic imagination
- The erotic in art, art history, literature and film
- The erotic in music
- The psychology of the erotic
- Gender, bodies and the erotic
- Love, sentiment, romanticism and the erotic
- Eros, Sexuality and education
- Friendship, relationships and the erotic
- The erotic and the perverse; eroticism & fetishism
- Religion and the erotic
- The Virtual erotic
Related themes will also be identified for development and exploration. Out of our deliberations it is anticipated that a series of related cross context research projects will develop.