Sins against Nature

Sex and Archives in Colonial New Spain

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Gay Studies, History, Americas, Mexico
Cover of the book Sins against Nature by Zeb Tortorici, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Zeb Tortorici ISBN: 9780822371625
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: June 7, 2018
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Zeb Tortorici
ISBN: 9780822371625
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: June 7, 2018
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

In Sins against Nature Zeb Tortorici explores the prosecution of sex acts in colonial New Spain (present-day Mexico, Guatemala, the US Southwest, and the Philippines) to examine the multiple ways bodies and desires come to be textually recorded and archived. Drawing on the records from over three hundred criminal and Inquisition cases between 1530 and 1821, Tortorici shows how the secular and ecclesiastical courts deployed the term contra natura—against nature—to try those accused of sodomy, bestiality, masturbation, erotic religious visions, priestly solicitation of sex during confession, and other forms of "unnatural" sex. Archival traces of the visceral reactions of witnesses, the accused, colonial authorities, notaries, translators, and others in these records demonstrate the primacy of affect and its importance to the Spanish documentation and regulation of these sins against nature. In foregrounding the logic that dictated which crimes were recorded and how they are mediated through the colonial archive, Tortorici recasts Iberian Atlantic history through the prism of the unnatural while showing how archives destabilize the bodies, desires, and social categories on which the history of sexuality is based.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In Sins against Nature Zeb Tortorici explores the prosecution of sex acts in colonial New Spain (present-day Mexico, Guatemala, the US Southwest, and the Philippines) to examine the multiple ways bodies and desires come to be textually recorded and archived. Drawing on the records from over three hundred criminal and Inquisition cases between 1530 and 1821, Tortorici shows how the secular and ecclesiastical courts deployed the term contra natura—against nature—to try those accused of sodomy, bestiality, masturbation, erotic religious visions, priestly solicitation of sex during confession, and other forms of "unnatural" sex. Archival traces of the visceral reactions of witnesses, the accused, colonial authorities, notaries, translators, and others in these records demonstrate the primacy of affect and its importance to the Spanish documentation and regulation of these sins against nature. In foregrounding the logic that dictated which crimes were recorded and how they are mediated through the colonial archive, Tortorici recasts Iberian Atlantic history through the prism of the unnatural while showing how archives destabilize the bodies, desires, and social categories on which the history of sexuality is based.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Migrants and City-Making by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book The Lima Reader by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book Smoldering Ashes by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book Egypt Land by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book Continental Crossroads by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book The Art of Being In-between by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book Liberalization's Children by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book Full Metal Apache by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book Equaliberty by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book City of Extremes by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book Muslim Fashion by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book Beyond the Lettered City by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book War by Other Means by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book What We Made by Zeb Tortorici
Cover of the book Subject Lessons by Zeb Tortorici
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy