Perversion
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
| Revision as of 21:38, 7 January 2014 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Current revision Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| + | [[Image:The Remorse of Nero by Waterhouse.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''[[The Remorse of the Emperor Nero after the Murder of his Mother]]'' (1878) by John William Waterhouse]] | ||
| + | {| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5" | ||
| + | | style="text-align: left;" | | ||
| + | "Examine these similar actions as we will, we shall find them resulting solely from the spirit of the [[Perversion |Perverse]]. We perpetrate them because we feel that we should not. Beyond or behind this there is no intelligible principle; and we might, indeed, deem this perverseness a direct instigation of the Arch-Fiend, were it not occasionally known to operate in furtherance of good." --"[[The Imp of the Perverse (short story)|The Imp of the Perverse]]", Edgar Allan Poe | ||
| + | <hr> | ||
| + | "Beginning with [[Manet]]'s ''[[Olympia (painting)|Olympia]]'', 1863 (for many the seminal modern picture) and jumping to [[Picasso]]'s ''[[Les Demoiselles d'Avignon]]'', 1907 (another "breakthough"), and then to the dolls that [[Bellmer's dolls|Hans Bellmer]] made in the 1930s and the somewhat different looking but equally perverse dolls that appear in [[Cindy Sherman]]'s ''[[Untitled Film Stills]]'', 1979 -- her later grotesquely dismembered dolls are explicitly Bellmeresque, especially when they are composites of fragments that don't add up to a complete body -- and throwing in [[Egon Schiele]]'s nudes, [[Balthus]]'s adolescent girls, [[Piero Manzoni]]'s [[canned shit]], and [[Gilbert and George's shit cookies]] (many other works can be mentioned), one realizes that many of the masterpieces of modern art depend on [[perversion]] to make their dramatic point." --[[Donald Kuspit]], 2002, "[[Perversion in Art]]" | ||
| + | |} | ||
| + | [[Image:Perversion in the glossographia.png|thumb|right|200px|[[Pervert]] in the ''[[Glossographia]]'' (1656)]] | ||
| [[Image:Elagabalus.jpg|thumb|right|200px| | [[Image:Elagabalus.jpg|thumb|right|200px| | ||
| This page '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is part of [[Psychopathy and psychopathology]] series. | This page '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is part of [[Psychopathy and psychopathology]] series. | ||
| <br>Illustrated by the head of '''[[Elagabalus]]''', one of the five "[[mad emperors]]" of [[ancient Rome]]]] | <br>Illustrated by the head of '''[[Elagabalus]]''', one of the five "[[mad emperors]]" of [[ancient Rome]]]] | ||
| - | |||
| - | [[Image:Perversion for Profit.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From ''[[Perversion for Profit]]'']] | ||
| - | |||
| [[Image:Véritable portrait de Monsieur Ubu, par Alfred Jarry (1896).png|thumb|right|200px| | [[Image:Véritable portrait de Monsieur Ubu, par Alfred Jarry (1896).png|thumb|right|200px| | ||
| This page ''{{PAGENAME}}'' is part of the [[publication bias list of the Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia]], presented by [[Alfred Jarry]].]] | This page ''{{PAGENAME}}'' is part of the [[publication bias list of the Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia]], presented by [[Alfred Jarry]].]] | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | '''Perversion''' is a term and concept describing those types of [[human behavior]] that are perceived to be a deviation from what is considered to be [[orthodoxy|orthodox]] or [[normal (behavior)|normal]]. Perversion differs from [[deviant behavior]], since the latter refers to a recognized violation of social rules or norms (although the two terms can apply to the same behavior). | + | |
| + | '''Perversion''' is a [[concept]] describing those types of [[human behavior]] that [[Deviance (sociology)|deviate]] from that which is understood to be [[orthodoxy|orthodox]] or [[normal (behavior)|normal]]. Although it can refer to a variety of forms of deviation, it is most often used to describe [[Human sexual activity|sexual behaviors]] that are considered particularly abnormal, repulsive or obsessive. Perversion differs from [[Deviance (sociology)|deviant behavior]], in that the latter covers areas of behaviour (such as petty crime) for which "perversion" would be too strong a term. It is often considered [[pejorative|derogatory]] and in psychological literature the term ''[[paraphilia]]'' has been used as a replacement, though this term is [[Paraphilia#Controversy over the term|controversial]], and "''deviation''" is now used instead by others. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The main connotations of the term are [[humiliation]]; [[debasement]], [[depravity]]; [[viciousness]], [[sexual deviance]], [[immorality]] and even [[rape]]. | ||
| + | |||
| ==Etymology== | ==Etymology== | ||
| :''[[per-]], [[verto]]'' | :''[[per-]], [[verto]]'' | ||
| - | Late 14c., "action of turning aside from truth, corruption, distortion" (originally of religious beliefs), from L. ''perversionem'' (nom. ''perversio'') "a turning about," noun of action from pp. stem of ''pervertere''. Psychological sense of "disorder of sexual behavior in which satisfaction is sought through channels other than those of normal heterosexual intercourse" is from 1892, originally including homosexuality.[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=perversion] Psychological sense of pervert for "one who has a perversion of the sexual instinct" is attested from 1897 ([[Havelock Ellis]]), originally especially of homosexuals.[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pervert] | + | |
| + | The word first appeared in the late 14th century with the meaning of deviating from a religious norm. In the sexual sense the word became common in the late 19the century, and works carrying that title include: | ||
| + | |||
| + | *''[[Inversion du sens génital et autres perversions sexuelles]]'' (1883) by Jean-Martin Charcot and Victor Magnan | ||
| + | *''[[Des anomalies, des aberrations et des perversions sexuelles]]'' (1885) by Jacques Joseph Valentin Magnan | ||
| + | |||
| + | It can be found as early as 1876 in ''Pamphlets on Biology: Kofoid collection''. | ||
| The verb ''pervert'' is less narrow in reference than the related nouns, and may be used with no sexual connotations. | The verb ''pervert'' is less narrow in reference than the related nouns, and may be used with no sexual connotations. | ||
| Line 36: | Line 51: | ||
| *Verb: "Yo, you can't just ignore me just because I perved on you a little bit." | *Verb: "Yo, you can't just ignore me just because I perved on you a little bit." | ||
| - | ==See Also== | + | ==See also== |
| *[[Female perversion]] | *[[Female perversion]] | ||
| *[[Paraphilia]] | *[[Paraphilia]] | ||
| + | *[[Perversion in art]] | ||
| *[[Public order crime]] | *[[Public order crime]] | ||
| - | *[[Polymorphous perversity]] | + | *[[Polymorphous perversity]] |
| + | *[[Perverse incentive]] | ||
| + | |||
| == Namesakes == | == Namesakes == | ||
| - | *''[[The Erotic Imagination: French Histories of Perversity (Ideologies of Desire)]]'' by Vernon Rosario | + | *''[[The Pervert's Guide to Cinema]]'' by Slavoj Zizek |
| - | *''[[Female Perversions]]'' by Louise Kaplan | + | *''[[The Perverse Countess]]'' by Jess Franco |
| - | *''[[The Pervert's Guide to Cinema]]'' by Zizek | + | *''[[Idols of Perversity]]'' by Bram Dijkstra |
| - | *''[[The Perverse Countess]]'' by Franco | + | |
| - | *''[[Idols of Perversity]]'' by Dijkstra | + | |
| - | *''[[The Dedalus Book of Russian Decadence: Perversity, Despair and Collapse]]'' | + | |
| *''[[The Angels of Perversity]]'' by Remy de Gourmont | *''[[The Angels of Perversity]]'' by Remy de Gourmont | ||
| - | *''[[The Imp of the Perverse]]'' by Poe | + | *''[[The Imp of the Perverse (short story)|The Imp of the Perverse]]'' by Edgar Allan Poe |
| - | *''[[Perversion for Profit]]'' | + | *''[[Perversion for Profit]]'', a cut-up film parody |
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
|
"Examine these similar actions as we will, we shall find them resulting solely from the spirit of the Perverse. We perpetrate them because we feel that we should not. Beyond or behind this there is no intelligible principle; and we might, indeed, deem this perverseness a direct instigation of the Arch-Fiend, were it not occasionally known to operate in furtherance of good." --"The Imp of the Perverse", Edgar Allan Poe "Beginning with Manet's Olympia, 1863 (for many the seminal modern picture) and jumping to Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907 (another "breakthough"), and then to the dolls that Hans Bellmer made in the 1930s and the somewhat different looking but equally perverse dolls that appear in Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills, 1979 -- her later grotesquely dismembered dolls are explicitly Bellmeresque, especially when they are composites of fragments that don't add up to a complete body -- and throwing in Egon Schiele's nudes, Balthus's adolescent girls, Piero Manzoni's canned shit, and Gilbert and George's shit cookies (many other works can be mentioned), one realizes that many of the masterpieces of modern art depend on perversion to make their dramatic point." --Donald Kuspit, 2002, "Perversion in Art" |
Illustrated by the head of Elagabalus, one of the five "mad emperors" of ancient Rome
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Perversion is a concept describing those types of human behavior that deviate from that which is understood to be orthodox or normal. Although it can refer to a variety of forms of deviation, it is most often used to describe sexual behaviors that are considered particularly abnormal, repulsive or obsessive. Perversion differs from deviant behavior, in that the latter covers areas of behaviour (such as petty crime) for which "perversion" would be too strong a term. It is often considered derogatory and in psychological literature the term paraphilia has been used as a replacement, though this term is controversial, and "deviation" is now used instead by others.
The main connotations of the term are humiliation; debasement, depravity; viciousness, sexual deviance, immorality and even rape.
Contents |
Etymology
The word first appeared in the late 14th century with the meaning of deviating from a religious norm. In the sexual sense the word became common in the late 19the century, and works carrying that title include:
- Inversion du sens génital et autres perversions sexuelles (1883) by Jean-Martin Charcot and Victor Magnan
- Des anomalies, des aberrations et des perversions sexuelles (1885) by Jacques Joseph Valentin Magnan
It can be found as early as 1876 in Pamphlets on Biology: Kofoid collection.
The verb pervert is less narrow in reference than the related nouns, and may be used with no sexual connotations.
It is used in English law for the crime of perverting the course of justice which is a common law offence.
Modern usage
Modern use of the nouns perversion and pervert reflects their nineteenth-century psychological application, inasmuch as they tend to be used with reference to sexual rather than religious behavior. The first refers to behavior and the second to the person. They are generally derogatory and in psychological literature the term paraphilia is now used instead, (though this term is itself controversial).
The concept of perversion is somewhat subjective, and its application varies depending on culture. As a psychological term it was originally applied especially frequently to homosexual behavior. However, homosexuality is no longer treated as a disorder in mainstream psychiatry.
The verb pervert is less narrow in reference than the related nouns, and is more frequently used with no sexual connotations. One might say, for example, that a modern film version of Romeo and Juliet "perverts" Shakespeare's version of the story.
Catholicism
In a similar sense, the term was also used in the pre-Vatican II era by some Roman Catholics to describe the process of converting from Roman Catholicism to Protestantism. Whereas a Protestant who joined Roman Catholicism was described as a convert, a Catholic who became a Protestant was called a pervert (see Religious conversion). The phrase is no longer used by mainstream Catholicism, though traditional Catholics occasionally still use it.
Slang
In the last sixty years, the term "perv" has taken off as both a noun and verb. The noun is used as an abbreviated version of "sexual pervert", while the verb is used to describe the action of ogling or hitting on someone.
Examples:
- Noun: "Mikey tried to lure me into his apartment. He is such a perv."
- Verb: "Yo, you can't just ignore me just because I perved on you a little bit."
See also
- Female perversion
- Paraphilia
- Perversion in art
- Public order crime
- Polymorphous perversity
- Perverse incentive
Namesakes
- The Pervert's Guide to Cinema by Slavoj Zizek
- The Perverse Countess by Jess Franco
- Idols of Perversity by Bram Dijkstra
- The Angels of Perversity by Remy de Gourmont
- The Imp of the Perverse by Edgar Allan Poe
- Perversion for Profit, a cut-up film parody
