Sinners and Citizens: Bestiality and Homosexuality in Sweden, 1880-1950 - Brossura

Rydström, Jens

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0226732576 ISBN 13: 9780226732572

Casa editrice: University of Chicago Press, 2003

Riassunto

Sinners and Citizens explores how sexual habits changed in Sweden during its development from an agrarian society into a modern welfare state. Jens Rydström examines the history of homosexuality and bestiality in that country to consider why these sexual practices have been so closely linked in virtually all Western societies. He limns sharply the distinctive experience of rural life, showing that to regularly witness farm animals stirred passions and sparked ideas, especially among young farmhands.

Based on medical journals, psychiatric reports, and court records from the period, as well as testimonies from men in diaries, letters, and interviews, Sinners and Citizens reveals that bestiality was once a dreaded crime in Sweden. But in time, mention of the practice disappeared completely from legal and medical debates. This, Rydström contends, is because models of penetrative sodomy shifted from bestiality to homosexuality as Sweden transformed from a rural society into a more urban one. As the nation's economy and culture became less identified with the countryside, so too did its idea of deviant sexual behavior.

Su questo libro

Informazioni sugli autori

Jens Rydström is an assistant professor of history at the University of Stockholm.

Jens Rydström is an assistant professor of history at the University of Stockholm.

Dal risvolto di copertina interno

Sinners and Citizens explores how sexual habits changed in Sweden during its development from an agrarian society into a modern welfare state. Jens Rydström examines the history of homosexuality and bestiality in that country to consider why these sexual practices have been so closely linked in virtually all Western societies. He limns sharply the distinctive experience of rural life, showing that to regularly witness farm animals stirred passions and sparked ideas, especially among young farmhands.

Based on medical journals, psychiatric reports, and court records from the period, as well as testimonies from men in diaries, letters, and interviews, Sinners and Citizens reveals that bestiality was once a dreaded crime in Sweden. But in time, mention of the practice disappeared completely from legal and medical debates. This, Rydström contends, is because models of penetrative sodomy shifted from bestiality to homosexuality as Sweden transformed from a rural society into a more urban one. As the nation's economy and culture became less identified with the countryside, so too did its idea of deviant sexual behavior.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: University of Chicago Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 2003
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0226732576
• ISBN 13: 9780226732572
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 432
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile