EROTISM AND SEXUALITY IN APULIAN ICONOGRAPHY OF THE IV CENTURY A.C.

• Grant number: 19/02721-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2019
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Historical Archaeology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Cristina Nicolau Kormikiari
• Grantee: Juliana Magalhães dos Santos
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/03863-9 - Erotism and sexuality in apulian iconography of the IV century a.C., BE.EP.PD

Abstract

This project aims to analyze sexuality and its relation to eroticism from the iconographic perspective produced in Apulia from the fourth century BC Far from Athens, the consumption of prestige artifacts was accompanied by a particular reading of the world, sociocultural interests in Attica and ended up in a way of consuming, interpreting and using the pieces in southern Italy. These conceptions also reflected in the artisanal production. As a result, a typical "way of doing" of the region reflected the tension of sociocultural forces through political relations: on the one hand the sexual interests and performances expected by women and men, on the other, their personal interests. In this sense, we understand the role of Eros as a symbolic sexual element and as fundamental to translate the conception of gender expressed in the region. Through the images we will observe how this dialogue was constructed by examining and identifying the importance of eroticism and sexuality for this colonial region, and the relation of these conceptions to the Athenian one. From the theoretical perspective on gender proposed by Violaine Cuchet, the revisions of the work of A. D. Trendell and the archeological perspectives of private spaces treated by Lisa Nevett, we will observe the multidimensional construction of the notion of gender and the uses of pleasure in Apulia.