Erotica
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Erotica (from the Greek language Eros - "love") — refers to works of art, including literature, photography, film, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or arousing descriptions. Erotica is a modern word used to describe the portrayal of the human anatomy and sexuality with high-art aspirations, differentiating such work from commercial pornography.
However, there is a substantial overlap between erotica and pornography. The difference between the two is artistic merit and the author's intent. For some, erotica is pornography with high art aspirations. Both the term erotica and pornography were first attested in the mid-19th century; erotica was used in the context of book collecting and pornography in the context of debates on prostitution, obscenity trials and legal prosecutions.
A work solely intended for masturbatory purposes, is not regarded as erotic art, although exceptions exist.
Erotica and pornography are excellent tools to study the rise of new media and new technologies. Printing technology gave rise to erotic fiction and erotic engravings; photography begot erotic photography; film begot erotic film; home video liberated the pornographic film from seedy theatres and the internet thrives on erotic imagery and dating services. Examples abound. Colin Wilson, for example, traces the development of the novel in relation to the human imagination and erotic fiction in his The Misfits: A Study of Sexual Outsiders.
One more way of looking at erotica is the sexual act becoming aware of itself: nature turning into culture, sex becoming self-referential.
Since pornography and erotica are genres that provoke physical reactions, what is called in narratology and art theory "body genres", they are generally held to be "low" cultural manifestations. However, nobrow writers, visual artists, filmmakers, photographers and publishers prove that works of high quality can be found in these badly regarded and maligned "low" genres.
Erotica also carries the connotation of softcore, whereas pornography carries the connotation of hardcore.
Contents |
By medium
- erotic art
- erotic books
- erotic comics
- erotic fiction
- erotic movies
- erotic music
- erotic photography
- erotomaniacs
By region
- American erotica
- Belgian erotica
- British erotica
- Dutch erotica
- European erotica
- French erotica
- German erotica
- Italian erotica
- Japanese erotica
- Scandinavian erotica
By era
erotica timeline - vintage erotica
Related
arousal - bawdy - burlesque - BDSM - censorship - clothing - eros - eroticism - erotic horror - fantasy - fetish erotica - genitalia - libertine - nude - lust - film star - nudity - paraphilia - perversion - peep show - pin-up - Pompeii - pornography - ribaldry - sadomasochism - sensuality - sex - sex film - sex manual - softcore - striptease - vaudeville - vintage erotica - voyeurism
Etymology
- Erotic (1621)
1621 (implied in erotical), from Fr. érotique, from Gk. erotikos, from eros (gen. erotos) "sexual love".
- Erotica (1854)
from Gk. neut. pl. of erotikos "amatory," from eros; originally a booksellers' catalogue heading.
"one driven mad by passionate love" (sometimes also used in the sense of "nymphomaniac") is from 1858.
- Eroticism (?) --Douglas Harper via http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=erotica&searchmode=none [May 2005]
See also
- History of erotic depictions
- Eros
- Erotica
- Homoeroticism
- Human sexuality
- Paraphilia
- Romance
- Sexual fantasy
