Pornology as an Epistemological Device in "Fanny Hill", "Thérèse philosophe", "Arte de putear" and "Décimas a las prostitutas de México"

Abstract

By analyzing eighteenth century novels such as "Fanny Hill", "Thérèse philosophe" and poems like "Arte de putear" and the "Décimas to Mexico's prostitutes", we can identify a subgenre of the European pornographic tradition called pornology which delves into the phenomenon of prostitution, either using the feminine or the masculine voice. While a feminine voice in pornology emphasizes the economic imperative, the masculine voice emphasizes the sexual imperative. Gender perspectivism unveils or conceals the systemic violence embedded in this economic and sexual phenomenon. Pornology is thus a literary window to the historic understanding of prostitution and its sexual, economic, and social dimensions.