Generation and Degeneration: Tropes of Reproduction in Literature and History from Antiquity through Early Modern Europe

338 Pages·2001·3.82 MB·English

by  Valeria Finucci

GENERATION
AND DEGENERATIONS
Valerie Finucci
GENERATION
AND DEGENERATION
Q
(cid:55)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:68)(cid:74)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:79)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:73)(cid:87) blank
GENERATION
AND DEGENERATION
Tropes of Reproduction in
Literature and History from Antiquity
through Early Modern Europe
   
  
Q
DukeUniversityPress DurhamandLondon
©DukeUniversityPress
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericaonacid-freepaper’
TypesetinDantebyTsengInformationSystems,Inc.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataappear
onthelastprintedpageofthisbook.
Anearlierversionof‘‘MenstruatingMen’’waspublishedin
Italianas‘‘Uominimenstruanti:Somiglianzaedifferenza
fraisessiinEuropainetámoderna,’’QuaderniStorici,
no.():–.
CONTENTS
Q
Acknowledgments vii
INTRODUCTION
 
GenealogicalPleasures,
GenealogicalDisruptions 
 THEORIES OF REPRODUCTION
 . 
Generation,Degeneration,Regeneration:
OriginalSinandtheConceptionofJesusinthePolemic
betweenAugustineandJulianof Eclanum 
 
MaternalImaginationandMonstrousBirth:
Tasso’sGerusalemmeliberata 
 BOUNDARIES OF SEX AND GENDER
 . 
Contradictionsof Masculinity:AsceticInseminators
andMenstruatingMeninGreco-RomanCulture 
 
MenstruatingMen:Similarityand
DifferenceoftheSexesinEarlyModernMedicine 
 
ThePsychomorphologyoftheClitoris,
or,TheReemergenceoftheTribadeinEnglishCulture 
 FEMALE GENEALOGIES
  
GenealogiesinCrisis:
MaríadeZayasinSeventeenth-CenturySpain 
 
IncestandAgency:
TheCaseof ElizabethI 
 THE POLITICS OF INHERITANCE
 . 
InSearchoftheOriginsof Medicine:
EgyptianWisdomandSomeRenaissancePhysicians 
 
TheConflictedGenealogyof
CulturalAuthority:ItalianResponsestoFrenchCultural
DominanceinIlTesoretto,IlFiore,andLaCommedia 
 
Hauntings:TheMaterialityof
MemoryontheRenaissanceStage 
Index 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Q
Thisbookwasbornoutofweeklydinnerconversationsheldafewyears
agoinPhiladelphia.EachThursdaywealternatedbetweentwodifferent
seatingarrangementsattheBrownlees’table:at:,weparticipatedin
thechildren’sactivities;andat:,weturnedconversationintoadultcon-
cerns.Generationandgenealogyweremorethanfortuitousissuesforusin
thosedays,asKevinandI,eachfordifferentexistentialreasons,startedto
contestbiologyandretesttime.Soonourprojectturnedintoacollabora-
tiveprocess.Bringingcolleaguesonboardbecameanoccasionforcreating
friendshipsandrenewingcooperation,andwereliedontheefficiencyof
electronicmailtokeepconversationsgoing,nomatterthemiles.Avisitby
DaleMartininFlorenceenlargedtheoriginaltimeframeofourinquiry,
andaconferenceatDukeUniversityonthebodybroughtinNancySiraisi’s
voice.Wehavestories(andmemories)foreachofourfriendsinthevol-
ume—theirintellectualinterestsarespreadalloverthesepagesjustastheir
withasbrightenedourendeavor.
WearehappytoacknowledgethegoodwillofReynoldsSmithofDuke
UniversityPressforhisinterestintheprojectandforshepherdingittothe
end;theanonymousreaderscontactedbythepressfortheirgeneroussug-
gestions, enthusiastic assessments, and a new turn at the title; Giuseppe
Gerbinoforhishumorandexpertskillsatindexing;MauraHighforher
patienceateachshiftofourcollectivesyntax;PatriciaMickelberryforher
professionalhandlingofthemanuscript;andSharonTorianforhersunny
disposition.
MarinaBrownleeprovidedthemostcheerfulfriendshipandlove.Eliza-
bethClarkwasthere,asalways.Tothemwe—theluckyones—dedicate
thisbook.
(cid:55)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:68)(cid:74)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:79)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:73)(cid:87) blank