Masculinity and Male Codes of Honor in Modern France

In this study of upper-class masculinity from the end of the "ancien regime" in 1789 to the end of World War I, Robert Nye argues that manhood, masculinity, and male sexuality is, like femininity, a cultural construct, comprising a strict set of heroic ideals and codes of honor which few men have been able to realize in practice. In doing so, Nye destabilizes and historicizes the male body, and incorporates gender into the brand of cultural history inaugurated by Norbert Elias in the 1930s.

List of contents

1 Introduction: Sex, Society, and Identity
2 Honor and Male Identity in the Old Regime
3 The Roots of Bourgeois Honorability
4 Sex Difference and the "Separate Spheres" 
5 Population, Degeneration, and Reproduction
6 Male Sexual Identity and the "Perversions" in the Fin de Siecle
7 Bourgeois Sociability and the Point d'Honneur:1800-1860
8 The Culture of the Sword: Manliness and Fencing in the Third Republic
9 Honor and the Duel in the Third Republic, 1860-1914
Dueling and the Law
How Many Duels? 
The Journalistic Duel
The Political Duel
The "Serious" Duel
The "Futile" Duel
10 Conclusion: Courage
Notes
Bibliography of Selected Secondary Works
Index

About the author

Robert A. Nye is Horning Professor of the Humanities and Professor of History at Oregon State University. He is the author of Crime, Madness, and Politics in Modern France (1984).

Summary

A study of upper-class masculinity from the end of the ancien regime in 1789 to the end of World War I, this title argues that manhood, masculinity, and male sexuality is, like femininity, a cultural construct, comprising a strict set of heroic ideals and codes of honor which few men have been able to realize in practice.

Product details

• Authors: Robert A. Nye, Nye Robert A.
• Publisher: University Of California Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.11.1998
• EAN: 9780520215108
• ISBN: 978-0-520-21510-8
• No. of pages: 336
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Politics; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > General, dictionaries; Cultural Studies, 20th Century, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Men's Studies, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, Social and cultural history, Gender studies: men and boys, Gender Studies: Men, C 1700 To C 1800