Castration : An Abbreviated History of Western Manhood |
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Castration : An Abbreviated History of Western Manhood
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by Gary Taylor
Sales Rank: 1439946
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$27.95
At Amazon
on 6-19-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 304 pages
Published by: RoutledgeEdition: 1st Edition October 2000
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0415927854
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0415927857
Book Dimensions:
9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
Weighs: 1.5 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
Early in this absorbing treatise on the changing nature of manhood in Western culture, English professor Taylor remarks, "This is a specter that has haunted men for centuries: the fear that manhood will become, or has already become, obsolete, superfluous, ridiculous, at best quaint, at worst disgusting." Nowhere, he contends, is this specter more obvious than in the cringing reaction most men have to the word "castration." In this book, Taylor uses an imaginative analysis of the history and purposes of castration to examine the cultural construct of masculinityDspecifically in relation to reproduction. Equally comfortable discussing the implications of pop singer Tori Amos's lyrics as he is reinterpreting the antisexual writings of church fathers Justin Martyr, Clement and Tertullian or Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Taylor gracefully guides the reader through carefully constructed arguments that go so far as to declare that, in some times and cultures, being a eunuch is a social advantage. In a feat of bravura literary criticism, he uses a detailed explication of Thomas Middleton's unusual but important 1624 play A Game of Chess (a metaphysical commentary on the Reformation) as the centerpiece of his many-pronged cultural investigationDa move that is both audacious and illuminating. But while Taylor's expertise as a Renaissance scholar shines here, he shrewdly and subtly links the play's concerns to such varied historical events as the history of psychoanalysis and sexual racism toward blacks and Jews. Though of primary interest to literary scholars and historians of sexuality, this work will also reward sophisticated general readers with its wit (including a cover depicting the upper torso and wincing head of a Greek male statue) and insight. (Nov. 30)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Review
the good news is that Taylor is riveting on Middleton. Taylor knows his stuff -- Rowan Pelling, New Statesman
The journey is entertaining and informativie -- Rowan Pelling, New Statesman
Taylor seems as cheerily loony as his title. His prose style springs from the groovy prof school of writing, so Abelard and Foucault are quoted alongside Christina Aguilera and Tori Amos -- Rowan Pelling, New Statesman
Not for purists; great fun for anyone else. -- Choice, M.J. Emery, Cottey College
An absorbing treatise on the changing nature of manhood in Western culture. that uses a wide range of literature to explore male fears. It will reward sophisticated general readers with its wit and insight. -- Publishers Weekly
[An] absorbing treatise on the changing nature of manhood in Western culture. In this book, Taylor uses an imaginative analysis of the history and purposes of castration to examine the cultural construct of masculinity -specifically in relation to reproduction. Equally comfortable discussing the implications of pop singer Tori Amos's lyrics as he is reinterpreting the anti-sexual writings of church fathers Justin Martyr, Clement and Tertullian or Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Taylor gracefully guides the reader through carefully constructed arguments that go so far as to declare that, in some times and cultures, being a eunich is a social advantage. -- Publishers Weekly
(continued) In a feat of bravura literary criticism, he uses a detailed explication of Thomas Middleton's unusual but important 1624 play A Game of Chess. as the centerpiece of his many-pronged cultural investigation - a move that is both audacious and illuminating. But while Taylor's expertise as a Renaissance scholar shines here, he shrewdly and subtly links the play's concerns to such varied historical events as the history of psychoanalysis and sexual racism toward blacks and Jews. Though of primary interest to literary scholars and historians of sexuality, this work will also reward sophisticated general readers with its wit. and insight. -- Publishers Weekly
This dense, scholarly yet thoroughly entertaining book looks at the uses of castration along with thousands of years' worth of popular attitudes about the male genitals. Taylor posits that understanding what it means to be biologically unmanned is an great way to understand what it means to be a man. You don't need to be enthusiastic about this thesis -- or even to be male -- to find Castration terrific reading. -- Salon
A passionate, provocative history of ideas about male sexuality--and the best account of castration you're ever likely to read. -- Maggie Paley, author of The Book of the Penis
Gary Taylor's Castration is learned, provocative, and surprisingly persuasive. It is entirely characteristic of its author, at once polemical and reasonable, historically detailedand wildly imaginative. I found it endlessly informative and compulsively readable. -- Stephen Orgel
Taylor's writing is academic in the best sense -- well-researched and unapologetically informed (and opinionated) about both high and popular culture. This isn't USA Today-style speculation about trends and people. Taylor's ideas are so well-reasoned that the reader is gladly seduced into following each argument as far as it goes. Taylor's uxtaposition of history, culture, and psychology, along with his comfort about sexuality, breaks new ground here. The reader's relationship to genitalia -- his/her own and others' -- is forever changed after reading this great book. By examining sexuality in its historical context, crucial for understanding other civilizations, he makes the arbitrariness of our own erotic beliefs startlingly visible. - Marty Klein, Ph.D Libido: the Journal of Sex and Sensibility.
Taylor has written a thoroughly engaging and witty account of the history and misconceptions of castration Castration provides a useful, original, lively, and long overdue look at one of mankind;s most essential physical and cultural components. -Virginia Quarterly Review.
Reader Reviews
According to Gary Taylor in _Castration: An Abbreviated History of Western Manhood_ (Routledge) a castrated man is just what some women would want, and have wanted for centuries. This is bound to sound peculiar to those in the twentieth century raised on Freud, or more recently those who have followed the follies of John and Lorena Bobbitt, but before Freud, castration always meant removal of the testicles, never removal of the penis. It was reproduction that was important then, and the "stones" were what mattered. Now that we have reproduced entirely enough, the "scepter" is more important. Sex for pleasure is now more vital than sex for reproduction. Eunuchs, just like oxen, were useful. They guarded the harems, for one job, but power in the bedchamber within some societies became legal or military power. A eunuch had no testicles, but had enough genitalia left to play games in the harem. Jesus spoke highly of eunuchs, and Taylor makes the case that he was speaking literally. Augustine, however, insisted that Jesus's words were an allegory to promote priestly celibacy. Taylor is a Shakespearean scholar (the editor of the Oxford Shakespeare), and in a show of scholarly breadth cites plenty of the Bard, but cites also other Elizabethan playwrights as well as Tori Amos and Christina Aguilera. Funny, provocative, scholarly, and decidedly offbeat, _Castration_ is a witty tour-de-force.
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Castration : An Abbreviated History of Western Manhood
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Updated on 6-19-2008.
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