<p>This thesis examines how obscenity can be used either to maintain or to challenge gender stereotypes. Though this thesis focuses on only three texts, the questions raised concerning the relation between obscenity, gender, and subjectivity have wide applications. The primary theory applied here is a feminist poststructuralism which sees gender as socially constructed through language. According to poststructuralism, everything is formed socially or culturally through language. This includes the realities people experience of themselves and their surroundings; therefore, the language used to describe, and ultimately to construct, gender, is extremely important for a feminist critique of gender construction in our patriarchal society. Obscenity plays an often theoretically neglected role in the construction of gendered subjectivities. Drawing attention to the interconnection between obscenity and gender construction is important to feminists for several reasons. Understanding this interconnection may allow feminists not only to undermine stereotypical gender subjectivities, but to create entirely new subject positions.</p> <p>To investigate the relationship between obscenity, gender, and subjectivity, this thesis examines the following texts: Last Exit to Brooklyn, The Women of Brewster Place, and for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf. The Introduction provides a general survey of critical work concerning obscenity and gender construction as well as providing an introduction to poststructural theory. Chapter I examines Last Exit to Brooklyn and raises questions about, among other things, the misappropriation of obscenity by Selby's female characters where women swear but do so in a patriarchal manner. Selby, in privileging violence over language, silences his female characters in his reinscription of the patriarchy. Chapter II examines The Women of Brewster Place and the context Naylor creates which clearly condemns male violence and gives power to female voices. Chapter III examines for colored girls ... and finds several similarities between Naylor's and Shange's use of obscenity. The new subject positions that these two authors create will be investigated.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Le naturalisme prétendant inclure tous les aspects de la vie, la question de la monstruosité omniprésente dans l’œuvre de Zola peut se traiter sous l’approche du monstre en tant qu’être exceptionnel comme sous celle du monstrueux applicable à chaque nuance de physiologie, de caractère, de comportement ou de sensibilité. La présence des monstres chez l’auteur est concurrencée par son usage plus général du monstrueux lui permettant de concilier une poétique de l’ordinaire et un objet narratif qui ne l’est pas pour tout dire de la complexité de l’existence. Si le monstre désigne d’abord l’être biologique contrefait, l’influence du milieu et de l’hérédité conditionne son apparition : face à différents règnes naturels monstrueux l’homme est menacé de succomber ou de le devenir à son tour ; les anomalies physiques se transmettent d’un parent à son descendant mais même guettent n’importe qui à tout âge. L’œuvre de Zola met ainsi en lumière les aveux des corps mais exprime déjà un changement de regard porté sur les malheureux affublés de tares et leurs juges improvisés. Puis, dans une lecture morale, la quasi-totalité des personnages est susceptible d’être le monstre d’un autre tant c’est là un concept peignant les angoisses et les méfiances inhérentes aux rapports humains, à moins de cibler des mécanismes pernicieux comme ceux de bêtise ou d’hypocrisie pour montrer que n’est pas toujours monstrueux celui que l’on croit ; la mythologie zolienne où monstres et monstrueux occupent un rôle central permet à ce titre de reprendre des thématiques ancestrales et de les adapter au monde contemporain. Approprié par l’écrivain, le monstrueux en régime zolien devient alors un véritable sujet esthétique. Le plus grand monstre aux yeux de qui peine à créer, c’est en définitive l’œuvre d’art elle-même qu’il faut maîtriser par un labeur patient : c’est l’œuvre problématique, trop exigeante, et le monstrueux qualifie ce qu’on rejette en elle comme le laid, l’obscène, le mensonger. Zola en a été lui-même la victime, qu’il s’agisse de ses textes ou de sa propre personne déformés par des parodies, des caricatures ou des attaques ad hominem. / Naturalism claiming to include all aspects of life, Zola’s work can be treated from the angle of the monster as outstanding being or of the monstrous as applicable concept to each nuance of physiology, temperament, behavior or sensitivity. Monster’s presence in author’s work is competed with his more general use of the monstrous, allowing him to reconcile a poetic of the ordinary and an extraordinary narrative object to say all the complexity of existence. If the monster first means distorted biological being, the influence of environment and heredity determines its appearance: confronted with monstrous natural kingdoms, man is threatened to succumb or metamorphose in his turn; abnormalities are passed from parents to descendants, but also affect anyone at any age. So Zola’s work highlights the confessions of the body, but already expresses a change of look on the unfortunates whose physical defects are showed and their improvised judges. Then, in a moral reading, almost all of the characters may be others’ monster, as this is a concept which reveals anxieties and mistrusts inherent in human relationships, unless are targeted pernicious mechanisms such as those of stupidity or hypocrisy in order to prove that isn’t always the monster that is believed; Zola’s mythology whose monsters and monstrous occupy a central role allows, in this capacity, to resume ancestral themes and adapt them to the contemporary world. Appropriated by the writer, the monstrous becomes a veritable aesthetic subject. The biggest monster in the eyes of the one who hardly writes is ultimately the work of art itself which must be mastered with a patient labor: the work is problematic, too demanding, and monstrous describes what is dismissed in it as the ugly, the obscene, the false. Zola was himself victim, through his texts or in his own person deformed by parodies, caricatures or ad hominem attacks.

The aim of this project is to develop a legally relevant theory of artistic value, based on which a judge can reliably determine whether a work has sufficient such value to be granted constitutional protection, even though it would otherwise count as obscene. Within this framework I argue that a moral flaw can count as an aesthetic virtue in a narrative work, at least when the audience learns something from the immoral content of the work. Since expert testimony is sometimes required in legal cases about artistic value, I also develop a legally applicable theory of aesthetic testimony, such that expert testimony can be used to determine the valence of aesthetic properties, which is essential in determining a work‘s overall artistic value. My theory of which properties of works are relevant to their aesthetic evaluation depends both on which categories the work is appreciated in, and on the conventions of those categories. I address these issues within Canadian and American legal contexts. / text

本論文以後現代符號與真實的關係，重新檢視色情的概念，並由此提出不同於傳統色情研究的問題意識。本論文由色情的再現出發進行延伸思考，認為色情在內部特性、發展歷程、與社會文化脈絡等不同因素作用下，已逐漸由代表現實的再現，走向符號獨立運作的擬象，因此色情必須要重新定義為：一個以性與身體為元素，營造真實的符號模型。此時色情中的性與身體脫離了與真實的指涉，而在模型的運作中成為大量製造、流通的符號，但其實質內涵卻在其中消失，形成一種後現代的猥褻。人們在後現代的色情中，轉而為符號的過度真實所吸引，使對性與身體的慾望被對真實的慾望所取代。然而在刻意追求真實的同時，人們反因此陷入了色情的符號模型中，不斷要消費符號、從中得到真實感的刺激，擬仿運作就此更為劇烈，性與身體的擬象也滲入一般日常生活範疇。透過理論詮釋、個案分析，筆者在論文逐步鋪陳新的色情論述，主張色情的符號模型已成為當前真實運作的典型，因為在符號的強勢作為下，猥褻已成為一般的情境，真實則成為人們主要的慾望；此時色情與真實關係的舊提問，出現了極不同的回應方式與關懷重點。在論文最後，筆者歸納出對後現代色情與猥褻所發展的論點，陳述當前文化情境中符號、慾望、真實之間的關係，並就此提出批判與反思的可能。

This thesis analyses the development towards a mass market pornographic press. Sweden (in addition to Denmark) is often described as a forerunner in this development when the so-called “porn wave” hit most of the Western world in the late 1960s. The “porn wave” was the starting point of the contemporary pornographic press, which put sexually explicit pictures on the international market. Denmark was the first country in the world to decriminalize pornographic pictures in 1969 and Sweden followed in 1971. While previous research in Sweden often blames decriminalisation for the growth of the pornographic market, this thesis shows that the “porn wave” preceded the alteration of the Freedom of the press act and thus calls for a more multifaceted analysis of the development. Very few studies have been made about the development from an underground exclusive market of explicit pornography to a legal mass market. This thesis, however, makes a survey of all the Swedish publishers of pornographic magazines, their length on the market, and the market conditions. By analysing the regulation of pornography prior to 1971 and the legal cases leading to prosecutions of the publishers, the strategies used to challenge the regulation are traced. Special attention is also paid to how the monopoly on distribution held by Pressbyrån, a company owned by the Swedish press, affected the pornographic press. By cooperating and starting their own distribution channels, the pornography publishers managed to challenge Pressbyrån’s regulations. Great emphasis is laid on the discursive construction of pornography in mass media and in the parliamentary debates. This thesis argues that the antagonisms between the pornographic press and its critics are central in understanding how pornography was perceived and that these debates have decisively impacted the market conditions. Sensation-seeking articles in the evening papers, and the politicians’ liberal attitudes towards the pornographic press, made the market seem more open and lucrative. The resistance towards the establishment of a mass market and explicit pornographic press was strong during the whole period – but these critics used quite varying arguments. By analysing these arguments, this thesis shows how the pornographic press touched on sensitive cultural norms regarding marriage, young people’s sexuality, homosexuality, gender and love. The second half of the 1960s was a turning point in the development of the pornographic press, the discursive construction of pornography and in the political strategies used to combat pornography. In just a few years, the pornographic press grew substantially and started to publish explicit pictures of intercourse. In that same period, the construction of pornography went from a conservatively Christian understanding to a sexually liberal – and later to a feminist understanding of its problems. The government introduced a “porn raid” against the magazines, prosecuted many of them, and then paradoxically decriminalized pornography in 1971. Theoretically, the conclusion is made that pornography has to be seen in its historical context and in relation to its special market conditions. Since pornography continually has been a contested commodity, its controversial status has resulted in special regulations, marketing difficulties and lack of income from advertisements.

Im Bade werden sonst verdeckte körperliche Besonderheiten sichtbar, und körperliche Besonderheiten sind natürlich ein beliebtes Thema für Epigrammatiker und Satiriker.

Un film qui dérange et qui déclenche des réactions violentes dit forcément quelque chose de la société qui le rejette. Pour prendre la mesure du scandale, le Festival de Cannes est un bon repère car c’est la caisse de résonance du cinéma. Les quatre scandales qui nous servent de point de départ ont eu lieu entre 1986 et 1999. Ces quatre films Tenue de soirée (Blier, 1986). Sous le Soleil de Satan (Pialat, 1987) De Bruit et de Fureur (Brisseau, 1988) et L’Humanité (Dumont, 1999) ont tous obtenus des prix à Cannes. Le trouble que ces films provoquent, relève du corps : un corps perçu comme marginal (l’enfant des cités), grossier puis risible (une star masculine grimée en femme puis en mystique), ou indigne (l’acteur amateur). Au cinéma, le trouble se base sur la gêne, le désir, le malaise. Le spectateur, face à une image qui ne répond pas à ses attentes est décontenancé et perd ses repères. Le trouble cache également toute une série de problèmes. Un corps hors norme qui ne correspond pas à ce que l’on a l’habitude de voir, un corps difficile à classer. Au cinéma, l’authenticité peut être troublante tant elle ressemble à la vie. Comment un corps authentique peut-il être troublant alors que le cinéma est affaire d’artifice ? C’est pourtant de cela dont il est question quand la vérité surgit dans le cadre, elle peut déranger voire devenir insupportable.Par la mise en scène, le cinéma peut-il rendre visible les corps délaissés par la société et ses images ? Comment aborde-t-il les questions qui dérangent en produisant des images troublantes ? Dans notre approche esthétique et socioculturelle nous allons analyser comment Brisseau, Dumont, Blier et Pialat rendent les corps troublants. Cette thèse s’articulera autour de trois idées motrices : le corps perçu comme obscène (une œuvre qui provoque des émotions contradictoires), le corps de l’exclu (les personnages démunis tentent d’échapper à l’entropie qui les menace) et le corps de l’acteur (le trouble physique qui traverse l’acteur dirigé par le réalisateur). / A film, which disturbs and triggers violent reactions, obviously illustrates the society that rejects it. In order to measure the scandal, the Cannes festival is a good reference because it is the sounding box of cinema.The four scandals we use as a starting point took place between 1986 and 1999. Those four films, Menage by Blier in 1986, Under the Sun of Satan by Pialat in 1987, Sound and Fury by Brisseau and Humanity by Dumont were all rewarded in Cannes.The confusion induced by these films is connected to the human body: a body perceived as of marginal importance (the housing estate child), coarse then ridiculous (a male star made up as a female then as a mystic). In a film, the confusion is based on embarrassment, desire, and uneasy feelings. The spectator, confronted with unexpected images, feels confused and lost.That confusion also hides all sorts of problems. An abnormal body we are not used to see, a body difficult to classify.In a film, authenticity can be disturbing by being so much like life. How can a genuine body be disturbing when cinema means artifice ? However that is exactly the point when truth appears in the setting, it can disturb and even become unbearable.Can cinema make bodies abandoned by society and its pictures visible again ? How does it tackle the questions which upset by producing disturbing images ? Through our aesthetic and sociocultural approach we are going to analyze how Brisseau, Dumont, Blier and Pialat make bodies disturbing. This thesis will hinge upon three leading ideas: the body perceived as obscene (a work which provokes conflicting emotions), the body of the excluded (weak characters try to escape the entropy which threatens them) and the body of the actor (the physical disorder which goes through the actor guided by the director).

Ce travail étudie des espaces littéraires ignorés. La littérature sentimentale de grande consommation du premier tiers du XXe siècle, souvent mal classée, concentre à la fois deux de ces zones. D’abord, la littérature sentimentale produite pour un public masculin était souvent associée à l’obscénité et à la pornographie, et a été soumise à des jugements moraux rigoureux. Deuxièmement, parce que les systèmes de validation littéraire n’ont pas encore trouvé un ajustement approprié pour la littérature de grande consommation. Paradoxalement, la meilleure littérature de masse, écrite avec des ambitions esthétiques, est souvent la plus ignorée. Il faudrait établir les frontières entre ses différents aspects pour comprendre la raison pour laquelle certaines de ces œuvres ont été considérées obscènes ou pornographiques, et pourquoi elles ont été exclues de leurs systèmes littéraires. La comparaison révèle que les processus de la condamnation des deux systèmes, moral et esthétique, sont analogues. Finalement, notre travail vise à analyser la présence de ce genre de roman sentimental masculin dans la littérature catalane —qui avait un marché littéraire et un système canonique tout à fait différent de ceux des autres littératures européennes. Nous pouvons trouver un bon exemple de cette manifestation dans les œuvres de Josep Maria Francès, surtout dans ses romans sentimentaux écrits à l’entre-deux-guerres, La rossa de mal pèl (1929) et Marasme (1938). Cette thèse n’a pas pour but d’analyser en profondeur les œuvres de Francès, mais d’offrir des outils qui puissent permettre une nouvelle compréhension de son travail : le catalogue complet de ses articles de presse, une édition minutieuse de Marasme, roman inédit, et la définition de l’espace occupé par ses romans sentimentaux aussi bien que du genre qu’ils représentent. / This is a thesis about ignored literary spaces. The mass-consumption sentimental literature of the first third of the 20th century, often poorly classified, concentrates both of these areas. First, the sentimental literature produced for men was often associated with obscenity and pornography, and was subjected to severe moral sentences. Secondly, because the literary validation systems have not yet found a suitable fit for consumption literature. Paradoxically, the best mass literature, written with aesthetic ambitions, is the most frequently ignored. It would be necessary to separate some different aspects to understand why some of these works were considered obscene or pornographic, and why they have been excluded from their literary systems. The comparison reveals that the processes of condemnation of both moral and aesthetic systems are analogous. Finally, our work aims to analyze the presence of this kind of sentimental novel for men in the Catalan literature —which had a literary market and a canonical system quite different from the other European literatures. We can find a good example of this manifestation at the works of Josep Maria Francès, mainly his sentimental novels written during the interwar period, La rossa de mal pèl (1929) and Marasme (1938). This thesis does not aim to provide a deep analysis of Francès’ works, but to offer tools that may allow reading it under a different, richer point of view: the complete catalogue of his newspaper articles, a thorough edition of the unpublished novel Marasme and the definition of the ambits occupied by his sentimental novels and of the genre they represent. / Aquesta tesi tracta d’uns espais literaris ignorats. La literatura sentimental de consum del primer terç del segle XX, sovint mal classificada, concentra dos d’aquests àmbits. Primer, perquè la literatura sentimental produïda per a homes s’associava sovint amb l’obscenitat i la pornografia, i estava sotmesa a severes condemnes d’ordre moral. Després, perquè els sistemes de validació literària encara no han trobat un encaix adient per a la literatura de consum. Paradoxalment, la millor literatura de masses, feta amb pretensions estètiques, és la més ignorada. Convindria, tanmateix, separar algunes coses: entendre per què es consideraven pornogràfiques o immorals algunes d’aquestes obres, i per què han estat excloses dels seus sistemes literaris. La comparació revela que els processos de condemna d’ambdós sistemes, moral i estètic, són anàlegs. Finalment, volem analitzar la presència d’aquest tipus de noveŀla sentimental masculina a la literatura catalana —que comptava amb un mercat editorial i un sistema canònic força distint del de les altres literatures europees. En trobem un exemple adient a l’obra de Josep Maria Francès, principalment en dues de les seves noveŀles d’entreguerres, La rossa de mal pèl (1929) i Marasme (1938). L’objectiu principal d’aquesta tesi no és pas fer una lectura profunda de l’obra de Francès, sinó oferir unes eines que possibilitin avaluar-la sota un altre prisma: el buidatge complet dels seus articles periodístics, una edició curosa de Marasme —noveŀla fins ara inèdita— i la definició dels espais que les seves noveŀles sentimentals ocupen i del gènere a què corresponen.

Diploma thesis "The development of legal, political and social aspects of obscenity in the USA" focuses on the historical development of the basic definition of obscenity, highlights the long and difficult process of its formulation and presents crucial decisions of the Supreme court. It also briefly summarizes chief arguments supporting or rejecting censorship on the grounds of obscenity. This work also provides with a general overview of legislature concerning obscenity in the United States and concisely presents some interest groups, which are actively fighting against obscenity/ indecency or for the protection of the freedom of speech. Furthermore, the work also focuses on the work of the Federal Communication commission and gives an overview of its rulings regulating obscenity and indecency in broadcasting media. Finally, this work also introduces the Nipplegate scandal and concentrates on the developments after it.

Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right which is important not only for the intellectual integrity of an individual but also for the healthy development of the whole society. The work represents both general arguments for freedom of expression and codification of freedom in two different legal cultures. In the United States the freedom of expression is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, which complements the rich jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of the United States. In Mexico, the right is regulated in Article 6 of the Constitution. The work shows how both countries reached the current legislation on the basis of examination of legal developments and cultural values. The values of the societies are presented on the basis of Hofstede's cultural dimensions. The core of the thesis is to compare the legal limits, which is made primarily on the basis of judicial practice of the Supreme Courts of both countries. Emphasis is placed on four main areas which are related to freedom of speech: (i) fighting words including hate speech, (ii) symbolic speech, (iii) obscenity, and (iv) defamation. In addition to the legal limits the work interprets also the most significant actual limits in both countries. Finally, the author examines the relationship between freedom of expression and...