Erotic Exchanges

Nina Kushner

Description

Nina Kushner's Erotic Exchanges: The World of Elite Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century Paris brings to life a vibrant but relatively unknown part of early modern urban life, the world of the demimonde, the quasi-respectable underworld, with its elite prostitutes, wealthy patrons, and juicy scandals.... Kushner reveals the complexity and influence of this corner of Parisian social and cultural life and its relative separateness from the larger world of prostitution.- Janine M. Lanza Journal of Modern HistoryIn Erotic Exchanges, Nina Kushner reveals the complex world of elite prostitution in eighteenth-century Paris by focusing on the professional mistresses who dominated it. In this demimonde, these dames entretenues exchanged sex, company, and sometimes even love for being "kept." Most of these women entered the profession unwillingly, either because they were desperate and could find no other means of support or because they were sold by family members to brothels or to particular men. A small but significant percentage of kept women, however, came from a theater subculture that actively supported elite prostitution. Kushner shows that in its business conventions, its moral codes, and even its sexual practices, the demimonde was an integral part of contemporary Parisian culture.Kushner's primary sources include thousands of folio pages of dossiers and other documents generated by the Paris police as they tracked the lives and careers of professional mistresses, reporting in meticulous, often lascivious, detail what these women and their clients did. Rather than reduce the history of sex work to the history of its regulation, Kushner interprets these materials in a way that unlocks these women's own experiences. Kushner analyzes prostitution as a form of work, examines the contracts that governed relationships among patrons, mistresses, and madams, and explores the roles played by money, gifts, and, on occasion, love in making and breaking the bonds between women and men.This vivid and engaging book explores elite prostitution not only as a form of labor and as a kind of business but also as a chapter in the history of emotions, marriage, and the family.

Sujets

• Histoire
• History of Europe
• France

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 13 décembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801470691
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

c EROTIC EXCHANGES

EROTIC EXCHANGES

T HE WORL D OF E L I T E PROST I T UT I ON I N E I GHT E E NT HCE NT URY PARI S

N i n a Ku s h n e r

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Ithaca and London

Copyright © 2013 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2013 by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kushner, Nina, author.  Erotic exchanges : the world of elite prostitution in eighteenth-century Paris / Nina Kushner.  pages cm  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 978-0-8014-5156-0 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Prostitution—France—Paris—History—18th century. I. Title.

HQ196.P3K87 2013 306.740944'361—dc23

2013027623

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Joon

c Contents

Acknowledgments ix

 Introduction 1. The Police and the Demimonde

2. Leaving Home 3. Being Sold into the Demimonde 4. Madams and Their Networks 5. Contracts and Elite Prostitution as Work 6. Male Experiences ofGalanterie 7. Sexual Capital and the Private Lives of Mistresses  Conclusion

List of Abbreviations 225 Notes 227 Selected Bibliography 273 Index 287

1 14 46 72 97

129 163

191 219

c A c k n o w l e d g m e nt s

It is with great pleasure that I thank the many people who helped me to write this book, which I began so many years ago. I have had the privilege of being trained as an historian by many inspiring and devoted scholars including Peggy Darrow, Simon Schama, Eugene Rice, Tip Ragan, Deborah Valenze, Martha Howell, and Isser Wolloch. In France, the librarians at the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Archives de la Préfecture de la Police de Paris, and the Archives Nationales werehelpfulandcreativeinidentifyingandlocatingrelevantmaterials.My navigation of the archives and my time in Paris were made immeasurably more pleasant thanks to Ann Morrissey, Jennifer Popiel, Jeff Horn, Paul Cheney, Charles Walton, and Brian Sandberg. I remain overwhelmed by the generosity of a number of my senior col- leagues who read full drafts of this book at various stages and offered sub- stantial comments for its betterment, including Lenny Berlanstein, Katie Crawford, Lisa Jane Graham, Dena Goodman, Daryl Hafter, and the anony- mous reader for Cornell University Press. Lisa and Dena in particular helped me to sharpen chapters, correct problems, ask better questions, and develop frameworks in which to answer them. I cannot thank them enough. I also owe a special thanks to Daryl Hafter, who, as we worked together on an- other project, continued to encourage me to finish this one. My copresenters, collaborators, friends, and mentors from the Society for French Historical Studies and the Western Society for French History provided wonderful and generative feedback on all the many portions of this book presented at our annual meetings. Clare Crowston’s comments on a number of papers pulled the central questions into focus. Clare Crowston and Kathleen Wellman shared their manuscripts with me, and Meghan Roberts shared her dissertation. Kate Norberg and Jeffrey Merrick availed me of their expert knowledge of the police archives. I also thank Chris- tine Adams, Susan Ashley, Rafe Blaufarb, Mita Choudury, Lauren Clay, Julie Hardwick, Nancy Locklin, Rene Marion, Sarah Maza, Jacob Melish, Joelle Neulander, Michelle Rhoades, Charlie Steen, and especially Eliza

i x