著者

川坂和義

出版者

国際基督教大学

雑誌

Gender and sexuality : journal of Center for Gender Studies, ICU (ISSN:18804764)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.4, pp.39-60, 2009-03-31

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This paper aims to investigate the characteristics of contemporary sexuality studies through a study of Michel Foucault's The History of Sexuality Vol. 1: The Will to Knowledge which has had such a wide-ranging influence on queer theory and sexuality studies. The History of Sexuality Vol. 1 and subsequent research related to it will be examined from the perspective of how contemporary sexuality studies not only confront but also resist the concept of "sexuality" presented by Foucault. The analysis shall then be used to elucidate the characteristics of sexuality studies and the theoretical limits that arisefrom them. This paper focuses on the functions of Foucault's discourse on "sexuality" and defines it as "latent" and "dangerous," for it is based on an idea of sexuality that is closely associated with power. Along with interpretations of a wide range of sexuality theories, a hypothesis is presented here: the politics of contemporary sexuality studiescan arguably be seen in their production of discourses that oppose this "latent" and"dangerous" nature of "sexuality" in the realms of individual personality, relationships and the state.