Erotic literature -- History and criticism; Psychoanalysis and literature; Sex in literature
There are other perverts whose vices in later life can be traced to the
infantile sex life. These are sadists, masochists, exhibitionists and
voyeurs. The child's sex life takes place through the pleasures which
it creates for itself in the erogenous zones, which are sensitive areas
in any part of the body. It gratifies itself mainly on its own body;
it is autoerotic. But the sexual life soon derives pleasure through
other persons as sexual objects. There are also components or partial
impulses, which are: for causing cruelty to others (sadistic), for
deriving pleasure from pain to itself (masochistic), for showing itself
shamelessly (exhibitionistic), and for peeping at others in nude state
(the voyeur's instinct). As a rule these impulses are sublimated very
early, but if they persist the perversions govern the individuals for
the rest of their lives. Where they are sublimated we have as a result
some of the most essential features of our modern cultural institutions.
The child who continued shameless for a few years may become very vain,
and as an author write indecent literature. The child who was cruel
may later in life love contests and competitions, and write books
where cruel scenes or virulent abuse of people abound. The infant
who derived pleasure from pain inflicted on it may be interested in
solving intricate problems that as a man annoy him with a demand for
solution, and he will torture himself in solving them. He also may be a
conformist and find pleasure in crucifying himself upon the rack of the
church and the state and the home; or become a martyr for an idea. As a
writer he would depict martyrs or indulge in self-commiseration.
Literature shows sublimations of these impulses and also gives
evidences of the authors' perverse tendencies where these impulses have
not been sublimated; they may contrive to exist or be buried in the
unconscious.
There are many literary men who have been perverse in their tendencies
in later life without knowing it. Often the man who merely thinks he
is fighting Puritanism in art when he shows a tendency to describe the
nude only, or to describe people in compromising positions, is both an
exhibitionist and voyeur. These impulses have been suppressed in him
by civilisation and he finds an outlet for his unconscious by his art.
Such literature is not so much immoral as indecent. A literary man may
become an exhibitionist in his work so as to give play to an impulse
he cannot otherwise gratify. A writer may write exhibitionistic books
for money or to attract attention or for fun, but his work shows that
psychologically he has never completely suppressed the exhibitionistic
or peeping tendencies of his childhood. Like the child he is without
shame. The feature of the cheap and lascivious literature that is
written merely to pander to certain tastes is just in these traits.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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