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Article: Monsters in the village? Incest in nineteenth century France.(WINNER OF THE 2008 GRADUATE STUDENT COMPETITION)(Report)
- Article from:
- Journal of Social History
- Article date:
- June 22, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Journal of Social History. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction
Lost deep in the consciousness of mankind, incest continues to suggest hotror. Beyond just the crime, the taboo has created the monster. (1) But in France, since the end of the nineteenth century, the social imaginary of incest is undoubtedly telated to poverty and the rural world. Creating a mental map of this crime, French society had relegated incest to peasants and distant villages. A picture of these criminals can also be painted: drunkards, savages and idlers. They represent the worse of humanity: the "hot monster" led to the path of crime by his passionate and vivid nature. (2) In less than one hundred years, this monster's face had been ...