UQ free public lecture to focus on the history of sexuality

A free upcoming University of Queensland public lecture will suggest that human sexuality is the product of cultural history.

UQ Centre for the History of European Discourses Director Professor Peter Cryle will discuss What is the point of a history of sexuality? on Thursday, October 23 at 5.30pm in the UQ Centre theatre, St Lucia campus.

“The modern world continues to be dominated by the notion that sexuality lies at the heart of human behaviour,” Professor Cryle said.

In keeping with a new sub-discipline of the humanities, the lecture will try to distance itself from that way of thinking and explain how, in historical terms, “sexuality” is a relatively recent notion.

“It is only since about 1890 that sexuality has been taken as a universal key to understanding,” he said.

“It would be more helpful to think of it as a widespread cultural habit producing a complicated and dubious set of effects.”

Professor Cryle, who is also a Professor of French, is the author of three books on the history of sexuality: Geometry in the boudoir: configurations of French erotic narrative (Cornell University Press, 1994); The telling of the act: sexuality as narrative in 18th and 19th century France (Delaware University Press, 2002); and La crise du plaisir (1740–1830) (Septentrion, 2003).

This is the sixth lecture in the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies’ 2003 program of free public lectures and is supported by The University of Queensland Press.

Media: For further information, contact Professor Cryle (telephone 07 3346 9496, email p.cryle@uq.edu.au), Lisa Gunders at the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies (telephone 07 3346 9764) or Joanne van Zeeland at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2619).