Description
Book SynopsisCombines political theory and narrative analysis to argue that Rousseau's stories of sex and sexuality offer insights into the paradoxes of democratic consent. Drawing on a variety of Rousseau's political and literary writings, this book shows how consensual nonconsensuality organizes his representations of desire and identity.
Trade Review"An original and engaging analytical bridge between Rousseau's literary and political writings."--Ethan Putterman, Political Studies
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix A Note on Texts and Translations xiii INTRODUCTION How to Engender a Political Subject 3 CHAPTER ONE Savage Sensibilities 24 Impossible Beginnings 24 Perfecting Pity 30 (Re)Constituting Nature 37 State Power and Servile Desire 44 "To suffer is the first thing he ought to learn..." 54 CHAPTER TWO Object Lessons 58 Sensing the Difference 58 To What Does Sex Refer? 63 Guys and Dolls 70 Imagining Sophie 77 Marital Arts 84 Paternalism, Barbarism, Freedom, and the State 92 CHAPTER THREE Life Stories 102 Textual Symptoms 102 Novel Creations 108 Gilded Privations 114 Chalet Morality 121 Picture Perfect 127 Self-Perfecting Narratives 131 CHAPTER FOUR Loving the Body Politic 144 Wordplay 144 Personations 148 Maternal Learning 154 National Erotics 163 CHAPTER FIVE Republican Performances 169 What's Your Pleasure? 169 Inside the Cave 174 "That charming sentiment of shame..." 180 Masters of Philosophy 186 Speaking to the Eyes 191 Getting a Taste for One Another 197 CHAPTER SIX Making Rhetoric Matter 207 Agonies and Ecstasies 207 The Story and Two Deferrals 211 Dilemmas of Desire 217 Acting Free 225 Sovereign Representations 232 CONCLUSION Isn't It Romantic? 236 Works Cited 245 Index 251
