Judging Obscenity: A Critical History of Expert Evidence
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Christopher Nowlin examines expert evidence in North American obscenity trials and reveals how little consensus there is among those who purport to know best about the nature of artistic representation, human sexuality, and the psychological and behavioural effects of reading, writing, or watching explicit sexual narratives and imagery. He demonstrates that these communities of experts are divided on such questions as: Can a novel or film be both high art and obscene? and Is the world of heterosexual pornography categorically different from the worlds of gay and lesbian pornography? He observes that the ideas of an average psychological or behavioural response to a story or an image and the community standard of decency or tolerance are outmoded myths that elude all attempts at careful measurement. Nowlin concludes that lack of agreement among experts, for example, as to how and why some sexually explicit imagery titillates or pleases some people, while disgusting or demeaning others, can no longer be viewed simply in terms of moral, religious or even political predilections.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0773525386
ISBN13:9780773525382
Release Date:April 2003
Publisher:McGill-Queen's University Press
Length:304 Pages
Weight:1.06 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 6.1" x 9.0"
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