Hi Fellow Foucauldians,
I'm appealing to your collective ability to provide interesting
information. Here's the scoop; I am currently researching my PhD
dissertation topic. The topic is: *Perversion*
Okay, sounds interesting, but fairly broad, you might say!
Well, fine. I'm sure that there are many people who have become
interested in Foucault because of his own interest in the concept of
perversion.
Foucault does indeed discuss perversion and perverts in various places.
I am interested in those references but would be very happy to hear
about the other interesting things you might have read about perversion
and/or perverts in your various endeavours.
I am still at a very early stage. So I have yet to limit my interests
to any specific area, and so whatever you might have to share with me is
greatly appreciated.
That means that I would welcome any references you might have that
relate in any way to the concept of perversion, very generally defined.
I am sure that I will be considering historical, psychoanalytical, and
conceptual accounts of perversion. My PhD is in Philosophy, but I'm
interested in hearing all these different references.
So I'm appealing to your own interests, in a way. Have you read
anything interesting that might fall under the general purview of a
philosophical account of perversion? I'd love to hear from you.
What am I interested in? Well, at this point, I suppose everything. I
don't want to assume that perversion ought to be limited to the realm of
sexuality, for one thing. While as a gay man, my primary interest might
rest in the power of the conception of perversion specifically with
respect to sexuality, I don't want to assume that there's nothing to be
learned from other conceptions of perversion. For example, some people
think that certain eating behaviours could be considered perverse. My
point here is just that when you are thinking about what you have read
on the topic, I would ask that you don't limit yourself to the area of
sexuality, though that might tend to be the most obvious area of
inquiry.
Well, I don't want to make this too long. I tend to skip the long
postings myself...
Please feel free to post any helpful hint to either the general list, or
to me personally. Confidentiality is, of course, guaranteed. But I do
want to thank you all in advance.
Also, while I don't want to make this into a conduit for the expression
of everyone's individual perversions, I would be very interested in
hearing about people's own conceptions of perversion. I don't want the
specifics, mind you! Just -- what does the concept of perversion mean
to you? Is it a descriptive concept? Must it be an evaluative concept?
If it must be an evaluative concept, must it necessarily be negatively
evaluated? Etc.
Ok. If you can help me in any way, with any references or personal
insights I'd be most appreciative.
I feel slightly guilty about asking the people of the Foucault List,
simply because if I'm already familiar with any literature on
perversion, it is from the works of Foucault. So, I guess I'm asking
for you to provide me with stuff other than primary source Foucault
stuff, unless it is fairly obscure Foucault stuff, OR if you happen to
have any interesting insights into that primary source Foucault stuff.
Basically, my point is that I'm very open at this point to your
thoughts and citations on perversion in general. The next three months
will determine the general course of my dissertation, and I would
appreciate any and all insights into the topic.
So, again, thanks for your help. No point of view or input is too
small!!
Again, you can feel free to make a general posting, or contact me
personally. Thank you.
Blaine Mark Rehkopf
PhD Candidate, Philosophy
York University
Ontario, Canada
EMAIL: brehkopf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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