Age of Sex Crime

By Jane Caputi

Book Overview

Like many writers, Alexander Pushkin often created multiple versions of the same work, leaving readers to wonder which he intended as final and authoritative--a question complicated, moreover, by his fraught relationship with the repressive regime of tsar Nicholas I. Illuminating the creative processes and historical realities that shaped Pushkin's writing, this richly annotated series reproduces each work exactly as it appeared in the final Russian-language edition published during Pushkin's lifetime, resulting in the handsome "artifactual" feel of an original Pushkin text. In volumes edited by distinguished Pushkin scholars from Russia and beyond, the series offers detailed textological analysis that seeks a balance between the history of a work's conception and its publication. Based on the 1835 edition published by A. F. Smirdin, Boris Godunov is the second volume in the series. Pushkin's only full-length play, it was inspired by the political intrigues, social turmoil, and multifaceted personalities of Russia's Time of Troubles (1598-1613). Completed just months before the suppressed revolt of the Decembrists, the play features a feeble-minded tsar, his able and ambitious brother-in-law, a rightful heir who died under mysterious circumstances, and the pretender who emerged years later to claim the dead youth's identity. Ambiguous and controversial, Boris Godunov provides rich material for the consideration of Pushkin and his artistic legacy.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879723858
• ISBN13: 9780879723859
• Release Date: June 1987
• Publisher: Popular Press
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 1.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Incredible.

Caputi has done an excellent job exploring the relation between patriarchal culture and the current epidemic of sex crime. With conservative estimates claiming that at least 1 out of 3 women in the U.S. have been raped, and thousands of women being murdered each year by sexual serial killers (with the number of such killings increasing by 400% from 1966 to 1982 ... alongside the boom in "slasher" films and violent pornography), Caputi does not see this as an "aberration" or the crazed actions of a few "psychopaths". She sees instead something deeply ingrained in a culture that supports, mystifies, promotes, and is entertained by sexual violence against women. Her historical analysis is in-depth and fascinating. Her psychological and sociological analysis exposed me to many concepts I had yet to see elsewhere ... I very much disagree with the earlier review which claimed that the word "gynocide" was too extreme/radical/polemical/etc ... Caputi makes a very compelling case here that this is exactly what is happening. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in sexual politics, industrial culture, and violence ... actually I'd recommend it to just about anyone.

Well-argued correlation of mass murder and modernity.

Caputi argues for the placement of mass murder and serial homicide within a context of late capitalist patriarchy. She offers a detailed history of British and American "sex crimes" since the 19th century, and gleans trends of male violence against women from popular culture. Working from a neo-marxian feminist position gives weight to her disturbing thesis; while her sometimes militant tone may edge on polemic the book provides a useful analytical perspective.