Conférence en anglais

Adultery was endemic in eighteenth-century France, across region and social class. Yet, the meaning of adultery— whether it triggered a crisis of conscience for the cheating spouse, the dissolution of a marriage, or mattered little to not at all for either husband or wife — varied wildly. This talk will examine one factor which shaped the meaning of adultery, namely the inscription of the couple in an “immediate community.”

Nina Kushner specializes in early modern and eighteenth-century European social and cultural history, with an emphasis on France, women and gender, and sexuality. Her teaching repertoire includes courses on the history of early modern Europe, the national histories of France and England, the histories of women and gender, and the history of sexuality.
Her book Erotic Exchanges: The World of Elite Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century Paris (Cornell University Press, 2014) used police and judicial records alongside contemporary commentaries to reconstruct the demimonde of eighteenth-century Paris. Professor Kushner also co-edited a volume of essays titled Women and Work in Eighteenth-Century France (Louisiana State University Press, 2015). Her current project, "The Rules of Adultery: Sexual Culture and Identity in Old Regime France," is a study of marriage, cheating, and the construction of social identity in Old Regime France. She is also co-editing a volume on the history of sexuality in France.

La conférence se fera en distanciel via Zoom
Participation libre sur inscription obligatoire