Sexuality and Form

Caravaggio, Marlowe, and Bacon

Graham Hammill author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:The University of Chicago Press

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Sexuality and Form cover

This exploration of sexuality and aesthetics reveals how the body serves as both a challenge and an opportunity in Sexuality and Form.

In Sexuality and Form, the author delves into the complex relationship between the body and narrative arts within Western encounters with homosexuality. The work posits that the flesh serves as both a challenge and an opportunity, exploring its implications across various disciplines, including Italian humanism, art history, and Elizabethan drama. By weaving together historical and contemporary perspectives, the book offers a comprehensive examination of how these themes intersect with sexuality and aesthetics.

This ambitious study traverses a wide array of topics, from the aesthetics of war to the masterpieces of renowned artists such as Caravaggio and Michelangelo. It also looks at the literary contributions of figures like Christopher Marlowe and the scientific inquiries of Francis Bacon. Through this analysis, Sexuality and Form synthesizes elements of queer theory and psychoanalysis, revealing the multifaceted roles of the body and flesh in shaping narrative forms.

Ultimately, the book invites readers to reconsider traditional narratives and their limitations, suggesting that the exploration of sexuality and form can lead to new understandings of both art and life. By engaging with these ideas, the author encourages a deeper reflection on how we perceive and articulate the complexities of human experience in relation to the body.

"Hammill's ability to connect the dots of various disciplines to make a big cultural picture is nothing short of brilliant.... Original, daring, disturbing, polemical and persuasive. It stands head and shoulders above almost all, if not all, books on sex and violence (and outsiderness and cultural impact)." - Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance "Breathtaking, substantial, and original.... Hammill's use of humanist, Biblical, and psychoanalytic paradigms and micro-histories to intervene in current cultural studies of homosexuality and 'sexed thinking' is much needed. Readers will leave this book convinced that the flesh cannot be thought of outside a psychoanalytic register." - Julia Lupton, author of Afterlives of the Saints

ISBN: 9780226315188

Dimensions: 24mm x 17mm x 2mm

Weight: 454g

227 pages