Pornographic Archaeology: Medicine, Medievalism, and the Invention of the French Nation

"This is an original, well-argued, and richly documented book. Zrinka Stahuljak demonstrates clearly the ways in which French doctors and historians in the nineteenth century constructed a vision of the Middle Ages that accorded with their vision of the nation. Pornographic Archaeology exemplifies critical history at its best."-Joan Wallach Scott, Institute for Advanced Study "Zrinka Stahuljak has written a remarkable textual archeology that brings to light numerous texts unknown to the great majority of medievalists. Scholars in nineteenth-century culture and history can also benefit from Stahuljak's approach to earlier interpreters of the Middle Ages. She establishes connections between history and medicine, the Middle Ages and the French nation, sex, race, and love. Pornographic Archaeology helps us to comprehend ideological constructions such as nationalism and sexual morals."-Virginie Greene, Harvard University