History of the Development of Erotic Novels in Europe

The development of European erotic novels began with Ovid's "The Art of Love" in ancient Rome. In the Middle Ages, the Inquisition spared no effort in trying and suppressing heresy, leaving little room for erotic novels to "survive". It was not until the middle of the 16th century that erotic novels attracted people's attention again when the Italian writer Aretino published "Dialogues". The publication of Fanny Hill by the 18th-century British writer Cullerland marked the first time that erotic literature received social recognition. The book did not contain a single obscene or dirty word and became popular throughout Europe. After that, works with erotic themes emerged like mushrooms after a rain. However, due to political, legal and religious reasons, erotic novels were "suppressed" in the 19th century, and many authors had to switch from "aboveground activities" to "underground activities" and write anonymously, such as the famous "My Secret Life".

The Development of Female Erotic Fiction

In the middle of the 20th century, European social customs changed dramatically, calls for sexual liberation rose one after another, and the dispute between literature and pornography was brought to court. After legal certification by judges and lawyers, and analysis by many experts and scholars from the aspects of history, sociology, linguistics, and artistic creation, a consensus was finally reached, and works such as Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and Miller's "Tropic of Cancer" were finally lifted from the ban. This period was also the period of development of female erotic novels. The most famous female writer among them is Polina Leage, whose representative work is the novel "O Girl", published in Paris in 1954.

Erotica is not pornography

Germany's Kora Publishing House has been publishing erotic novels that are mainly descriptive for many years. Ms. Brühl, the editor-in-chief of the publishing house, believes that erotic novels are not pornographic novels and should be interpreted as "love novels with a sexy and romantic tone." Here, the core word is "love". After reading a passionate love story, readers still feel that the protagonists of the story will grow old together and stay together for life.

How to Identify Erotic Novels

In this regard, Professor Johnson of the European Literary Institute pointed out that when judging a work or a text, we should not only look at its level of detail; we should not only look at whether it is beautiful or natural; we also need to see whether it describes sexual behavior as a purely biological phenomenon or as a social behavior. If sexual behavior is described in terms of social behavior, then no matter how many details there are, it is still within the scope of erotic literature.

Ms. Coleman, president of the German Association of Romance Writers, believes that in reality, writers often intentionally or unintentionally add a veil to the scenes of sexual descriptions, and publishers are reluctant to expose them too boldly. At the same time, the title of the book is also very particular and cannot be too direct, otherwise people will be embarrassed to buy it. But some critics sneer at erotic novels and pour cold water on its supporters. They believe that although the way of writing about love in novels is constantly being innovated, overall, they are still very similar, and only a few of them can stand out.