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SOCA1311 - Socio-anthropology of the sexual and affective field
[1 Q. • 30 Th. • 3 ECTS - credits]
| Lecturer :
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Schmitz Olivier |
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| Language of instruction :
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French and passive English (some readings in English) |
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| Learning outcomes :
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This course primarily aims to present and discuss the “traditional” and current sociological and anthropological contributions to the knowledge of the domain of social activities and cultural practices we call “sexual and affective field” (denomination that we owe to Max Weber). We will be examine in a critical and well-argued manner what social sciences have revealed of the logic by which sexual activity is constructed, organised and represented in various human societies.
The analysis of sexuality in all its forms (“ordinary”, “commercial”, “ritual”…) has been the subject of considerable development in recent years, and there is now a vast literature that has renewed the vision on this discipline of human activity that has become a domain of social research in itself.
The course aims to provide the students with the necessary markers (historical, theoretical…) to better understand the opportunities and challenges of the “field”. It aims notably to provide students with the adequate critical tools to maintain a critical distance from various forms of political, religious or ideological reappropriation of human sexual activity, and to help them understand the underlying cultural logics.
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| Prerequisites :
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No particular prerequisites are needed, but a fundamental knowledge (methods, paradigms…) of sociology and anthropology is expected. |
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| Course contents :
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The course is designed to delineate the place of sexuality and related practices in “traditional” as well as modern societies.
As a first step, will be addressed classic themes of anthropology of sexuality within its social “constitutive” dimension: the issue of the symbolic exchange of women in structuralist approaches, the role of incest as articulation point between nature and culture, the cultural construction of gender relations and sexual identities, representations of sexuality in myths and metaphorical language, etc..
This main introduction aims to highlight the “constructed” part of sexuality through “classical” works (Malinowski, Mead, Verrier…). This first part of the course ends with a general reflection on the limitations of conventional methods and epistemologies of social sciences in the study of human sexuality and with the presentation of some less conventional approaches and methods (observant participation, sexual diary method, etc.).
The second part of the course will be more oriented towards what might be called the “new socio-anthropology of sexuality” and brings together a diverse set of works conducted since the 1980s in the context of the rise of the feminist movement, the emergence of new sexual identities and the HIV / AIDS epidemic. Some works have indeed truly modified the perspective of social sciences on sexuality (Gayle Rubin) in the sense that, before this period, most research in social sciences in fact said very little on actual sexual activity, its definition and its role in the mechanisms of intergender domination. |
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| Mode of delivery :
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The subject matter will be exposed from and through the contextualisation, presentation, and critical reading of texts (press articles or sections of works) marking the major development stages of socio-anthropology of sexuality. |
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| Assessment methods and criteria :
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Oral examination on the subject matter taught in class. |
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| Recommended or required reading :
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The following bibliographical information reprises the main texts used to explain the course material.
Bajos N. et al., La sexualité au temps du sida, Paris, PUF, 1988.
Bajos N. et Bozon M., « La sexualité à l'épreuve de la médicalisation : le viagra », Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales, 128, 1999 (33-37)
Béjin A., et Pollak M., « La rationalisation de la sexualité », Cahiers internationaux de sociologie, LXVII, 1977
Bolton R., Vincke J., Mak R., « Gay bath revisited : an empirical analysis », Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 1, 1994, 257-273.
Bozon M., Leridon H., « Les constructions sociales de la sexualité », Population, 5, 1993.
Dayan-Herzbrun S., « La sexualité au regard des sciences sociales », Sciences sociales et santé, 4, 1991 (7-22).
Hunter M., « The materiality of Everyday Sex : thinking beyond ‘prostitution' », African Studies, 61/1, 2002.
Giami A., “Les récits sexuels : matériaux pour une anthropologie de la sexualité”, Journal des anthropologues.
Kulick D. et Willson M., Taboo, sex, identity and erotic subjectivity in anthropological fieldwork, Londres, Routledge, 1995.
Lyons A.P. and Lyons H., Irregular Connections. A History of Anthropology and Sexuality, University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
Lyons A. et al., “La nouvelle anthropologie de la sexualité”, Anthropologica, 48/2, 2006.
Malinowski B., La sexualité et sa répression dans les sociétés primitives, Paris, Payot, 2001 (1927).
Mead M., Mœurs et sexualité en Océanie, Paris, Plon, 1963.
Mathieu N.-C., L'arraisonnement des femmes. Essais en anthropologie des sexes, Paris, Editions de l'EHESS, 1985.
Parker R. and Aggleton P. (eds.), Culture, Society and Sexuality. A Reader, London & New York, 1999.
Pollak M., « L'homosexualité masculine, ou : le bonheur dans le ghetto ? », Communications, 35, 1982.
Pulman B., Anthropologie et psychanalyse. Malinowski contre Freud, Paris, PUF, 2002.
Rubin G., « L'économie politique du sexe : transactions sur les femmes et systèmes de sexe/genre » (1975), Cahiers du CRDREF, 7, 1998.
Willner D., « Definition and violation : Incest and the Incest Taboos », Man, 18, 1983 (134-159). |
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| Other information :
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Course notes and portfolio of texts made available to students, including a detailed bibliography. The course notes constitute the mandatory course content; the assessment will cover the material presented and discussed in class. |
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