Herculine Barbin



  1. Herculine Barbin (1838–1868) was a French intersex person who was treated as a female at birth but was later redesignated a male after an affair and physical examination.
  2. Herculine Barbin became famous among academics long after her death, following French philosopher Michel Foucault's publication of her memoir. His interest — as well as his lengthy introduction to her memoir — authenticated the text for contemporary readers, marked it of interest, somehow integral to unraveling modern Western methods of.
  3. Herculine Barbin shows us explicitly that every ‘true characterization’ of the body will always be contingent, even precarious, and open to question.30 Nonetheless, what Herculine Barbin lets us glimpse, as well, is the possibility that this non-identity might also, conceivably, become a happy limbo.31 Coda This invocation of the potential.

Preview — Herculine Barbin by Herculine Barbin. Herculine was designated female at birth. A pious girl in a Catholic orphanage, a bewildered adolescent enchanted by the ripening bodies of classmates, a passionate lover of a schoolmistress, she’s suddenly reclassified as male. Here’s a lost voice of the sexual past in an erotic diary.

Overview

With an eye for the sensual bloom of young schoolgirls, and the torrid style of the romantic novels of her day, Herculine Barbin tells the story of her life as a hermaphrodite. Herculine was designated female at birth. A pious girl in a Catholic orphanage, a bewildered adolescent enchanted by the ripening bodies of her classmates, a passionate lover of another schoolmistress, she is suddenly reclassified as a man. Alone and desolate, he commits suicide at the age of thirty in a miserable attic in Paris.
Here, in an erotic diary, is one lost voice from our sexual past. Provocative, articulate, eerily prescient as she imagines her corpse under the probing instruments of scientists, Herculine brings a disturbing perspective to our own notions of sexuality. Michel Foucault, who discovered these memoirs in the archives of the French Department of Public Hygiene, presents them with the graphic medical descriptions of Herculine's body before and after her death. In a striking contrast, a painfully confused young person and the doctors who examine her try to sort out the nature of masculine and feminine at the dawn of the age of modern sexuality.

With an eye for the sensual bloom of young schoolgirls, and the torrid style of the romantic novels of her day, Herculine Barbin tells the story of. As Michel Foucault notes in his preface to Herculine Barbin, the nineteenth century was haunted by the theme of the hermaphrodite. Among. Find Herculine Barbin by Foucault, Michel at Biblio. Uncommonly good collectible and rare books from uncommonly good booksellers.

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Goodreads helps you keep track herckline books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Herculine Barbin by Herculine Barbin. Herculine was designated female at birth. A pious girl in a Catholic orphanage, a bewildered adolescent enchanted by the ripening bodies of classmates, a passionate lover of a schoolmistress, she’s suddenly reclassified as male.

Alexina Barbin

Here’s a lost voice of the sexual past in an erotic diary. Provocative, articulate, eerily prescient as she imagines her corpse under the probing instruments of scientists, Herculine brings a disturbing perspective to our notions of sexuality.

Herculine Barbin by Foucault, Michel

The ingenousness of Herculine, the passionate yet equivocal tenderness which thrusts her into the arms, even into the beds, of her companions, gives these pages a charm strangely erotic Paperbackpages. Miche, see michhel your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Herculine Barbinplease sign up. Rodrigo yes, have a look at my profile’s description.

See 1 question about Herculine Barbin…. Lists with This Book. My review is online now at Bogi Reads the World! Read about the first ever intersex ownvoices book! And why it has non-ownvoices bits too, and which parts of the book to avoid. I really liked this short memoir and I recommend it, but some of the bonus material attached to it was just weird, and not in a good sense: Source of the book: Present from Amazon wishlist thank you!

May 29, Sara rated it liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Book of Shadows”, by James Reese. He uses her as the main character but in his novel she focuault also a fledgling witch excellent book, by the way.

Her memoirs, which are written in an almost prosaic way, are very sad. She was a woman and then had to revert back to legal status as a man at age She tragically commits suicide at age From what I read, she was a good person with a loving heart.

Michael Muchel explains the laws regarding hermaphroditism hfrculine in the introduction and poses the very interesting question of our true sex. Does everyone need to have one true sex?

Herculine Barbin

I don’t think so. And her character should not have been defined by forcing a male gender and legal status that way. Another part that was rather macabre but interesting were the medical examinations of her body done pre and post mortem. Jun 11, DoctorM rated it really liked it Shelves: Fascinating and sad the story of an intersex tragedy of the mids. Herculine is raised female, and, after confessing her love of women, is examined, found intersexed, and “re-assigned” by doctors as male.

She has no idea how to be male, how to play the male role in ways society understands, and the career possibilities for someone whose sex has been altered aren’t good.

It ends badly, yes, in misery and suicide. Foucault touches on so many of the points made famous in his other works: It’s a tragic little tale, made worse by the good intentions however pompous and condescending of Herculine’s surgeons.

A small book that makes one realise how humane and often subtle a thinker Foucault was. Mar 16, Abigail Tarttelin rated it it was amazing. God I wish I could grab Alexina’s hands and tell her everything is alright!! It’s so sad to think she missed out on our times by a mere years and thus has to live such a wretched and vexed life.

Herculine Barbin

On the other hand, I wonder if a story like this is possible now, still, maybe somewhere rural. As luck would have it, Herculine aka Alexina was a really brilliant writer and storyteller, so this is an engaging read. Such a sad story. I wish she could have stayed with her friend.

Questions?

Herculine Barbin

The medical badbin fr God I wish I could grab Alexina’s hands and tell her everything is alright!! The medical notes from Foucault were interesting but after reading the human account they werent the meat of the book. Doctors are a nasty bunch. Dec 24, Simone rated it it was amazing. First published in English inthe hercuilne contains writings related to the historical figure and hermaphrodite Alexina Herculine Barbin called Camille in her memoirs.

Luckily for the reader, Foucault only introduces the materials, and then remains silent for the rest of the book. Male or female, Barbin is nerculine hero: The medical reports are too technical for the lay reader: Dec 09, Mikki Fisher rated it really liked it. A very interesting read for the most part, although I wasn’t at all enamored foucxult novella which was included with the book.

Still, I can recommend this story to anyone who doubts the reality of the human condition called hermaphrodism. It’s fortunate that today we have mostly a more understanding climate surrounding the issue of gender identity, not to mention sexual preference. However, I believe depression can still result in such individuals today because of lack self-knowledge and self-toler A very interesting read for the most part, although I wasn’t at all enamored with novella which was included with the book.

Adobe audition lifetime subscription. Jun 25, Lee Kofman rated it really liked it. The memoir was heartbreaking. The graphic descriptions of hermaphrodite genitalia in medical reports on one hand satisfied my curousity doucault on the ot The memoir was heartbreaking. The graphic descriptions of hermaphrodite genitalia in medical reports on one hand satisfied my curousity but on the other also left me fouacult sad, thinking of all those examinations she was subjected to which were probably almost unthinkable for a girl of her time and upbringing.

Herculine Barbin Quotes

I also liked the short story included in the book. Nov 28, Kate Esten rated it liked it Shelves: I wrote about this book for a paper on the role of the Catholic Church in defining gender roles and identity in 19th Century France. As an intersex individual, Herculine grows up with a feminine religiosity- focused on micheel, obedience, and devotion. Once reassigned as a man, the inability to cross the strict gender foucaullt ultimately leaves Herculine without a community, religion, foucaullt identity.

Dec 14, Jack rated it it was amazing. Like a mix between Lolita and The Bell Jar, not in content, just in how it made me feel. Oct 14, Julia rated it really liked it. Incredibly sad, but very important for intersex rights.

Jan 02, Ruth rated it liked it Recommended to Ruth by: It took me a bit to realize that only the introduction is by Michel Foucault, but by that time I was already hooked.

Actually I was hooked by the first line of introduction: Why do we need to be pinned down with a check in the box male or female? I guess that is the question for this century Oh, please may it now be that long! I remember when my brother-in-law white and his wife black had their first child, about six months before the Census arrived. That’s a question only she can answer. Why should she label herself one way or the other. It made no sense to me then for race, and it makes no sense now, for gender.

So I was surprised to read in the next paragraph that “for a very long time For centuries, it was quite simply agreed that hermaphrodites had two.

But over time, barbjn the Renaissance, that decision was taken mchel by the medical profession and the courts: Obviously anyone making such a decision for another had never stood in shoes with such ‘accidental elements’. But on to the book itself: The first part of the memoir relates the life Herculine had as a female, beautifully written most especially because it is a memoir of that time, not a creation of what an author, albeit with a foundation of extensive bagbin, imagines a hermaphrodite would experience.

The second part, describing life as a male, becomes more and more disjoint, confused, despair and hopelessness growing with every page. It was very difficult to read. So terribly sad, so unnecessarily painful. So unfair to be sent out into a world for which one is totally unprepared for, with only a ‘there you go, be well and happy, good-bye!

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