The chapters in this volume constitute a series of case studies exploring the ways in which claims about the past have been crucial in articulating sexual morals, in driving political, legal, and social change, in shaping individual identities, and in constructing and grounding knowledge about sex. Read together, the chapters invite a consideration of the significance and purpose of writing and thinking about sex in the past; an interrogation of the evidential basis that informs sexual knowledge; and an exploration of the authority used to support such knowledge. Through the attention to the i ... More

The chapters in this volume constitute a series of case studies exploring the ways in which claims about the past have been crucial in articulating sexual morals, in driving political, legal, and social change, in shaping individual identities, and in constructing and grounding knowledge about sex. Read together, the chapters invite a consideration of the significance and purpose of writing and thinking about sex in the past; an interrogation of the evidential basis that informs sexual knowledge; and an exploration of the authority used to support such knowledge. Through the attention to the intersection between the construction of knowledge about sex and the construction of knowledge about the past, this volume yields further important insights into the construction of knowledge and the practice of history. The book charts the changing status of historical thinking in changing constructions of what counts as knowledge, and chart the politics at stake in the construction of authentic knowledge. At the heart of the volume is a vital debate about how one should study history and how the past can and should inform discussion about sex and sexuality. Perspectives on these thorny questions are provided by scholars from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and approaches, and the papers cover a wide variety of historical periods and genres of discourse, including novels, scientific writings, museum displays, and scholarship on history and literature. As such, the volume provides a context in which multiple voices can be brought into productive dialogue with one another.