Scarlett Stevens

Research

Funded by WRoCAH, my research explores seventeenth century reading as an erotic act, redefining the relationship between sex and text. Historians largely focus on 'active' scholarly reading, banishing pleasure to the periphery of studies. My thesis reconstructs the identity of the 'pleasured reader' by considering the embodied experience of reading. I utilise a range of methodologies such as queer, gender and affect theories to understand the complexities of the reading experience.

My research explores a variety of printed texts. I consider less overtly erotic works, ranging from medical anatomy to religious texts, challenging notions of a hegemonic pornographic genre. My work draws on autobiographical and didactic accounts of reading alongside marginalia to uncover sexual and sensual early modern reading experiences.