Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Pornography
(2,299 words)

1. Definition and history of the concept

The term ‘pornography’ (from Greek pornográphos, “author of [textual or pictorial] obscenities,” from pórnē, “harlot,” and gráphein, “to write,” “to draw”) denotes obscene or indecent representations of sexual acts [14. 713]. In German, the word was borrowed from the French pornographie and first began appearing frequently only in the secon…

Cite this page
Eder, Franz X., “Pornography”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 20 March 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_025742>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20210107



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