Eroticism in the Mirror of Literature
The grandeur of love lies in the fact that desire and longing know no bounds, while the ability to act is limited. Wishes and yearnings are endless, but action is confined by boundaries. These poetic phrases were written by Shakespeare in his play ‘Troilus and Cressida’, from the mouth of Troilus addressing his beloved Cressida, to lament the infinite torment of human desires. Desires that are tormenting from both sides: on one hand, humans burn incessantly in the fire of their desires, and on the other hand, upon achieving what they longed for, they remain dissatisfied. They want something with all their being, but upon achieving it, they drown in the sorrow of the quenching of this thirst, only for a new thirst to take its place. For there are no limits to human desires; each boundary conquered awakens the wish for new frontiers. Every person, due to the vastness of their imagination and intensity of their desires, has unlimited potential to expand the realm of their personal desires, continuously fueling the fire of the cycle of longing and regret.
Literature as the Realm of Recognizing All Emotions
But it is precisely this boundlessness of desires and aspirations that has terrified human societies and religious institutions, creating a continuous battle between traditions and self-imposed laws against the possible and impossible subjects of human desires. This battle serves as a chain to restrain men and women whose hearts are in constant beat to cross the rigid boundaries of norms and conventions. However, this battle is not confined only to the public arena. As much as the suppressive forces in the tangible world strive to reinforce this dominance, the human longing for freedom increasingly turns to art and literature. In this realm, literature, as one of the most significant branches of art, is the land of recognizing all dimensions of human emotions. It is in this land that all the forbidden desires of conventional and civic rules have the right to manifest and roam freely.
Unity in Diversity
The strange magic of literature lies precisely here. Literature not only reveals these realms of liberated desires from one aspect but also, from another aspect, attempts to delve into the reasons for the emergence and manifestation of these unconventional desires. It guides us to a new world from the core of each, a world where the desires of the body are intertwined with fear, death, obsession, greed, envy, and anger, showing us how similar we humans are despite the diversity of our desires. This exploration, perhaps since the advent of sedentary life and the emergence of the first human laws, has always been ongoing to understand and either limit or recognize human desires.
Describing Love with Aesthetics and Carnality
From the first aspect, giving meaning to beauty and bodily desires beyond the consideration of socially constructed rules and boundaries has led to the creation of numerous literary works. Their traces can be found in myths, classical books, and contemporary stories. Passionate stories that describe love with carnality and aesthetics, and contrary to generally superficial readings, reflect the psychological knots of their characters. The creators of these works have managed to stand between two worlds: one side being the world of human rules and traditions, and the other the unknown and lustful world of desires. In this struggle, to satisfy these desires or to understand or declare them, or even just to come closer to the possibility of their existence, they have created a world embodied in poetry, stories, epics, and songs.
Understanding the Sinful Knots of the Human Psyche
From the second aspect, this human, the creator of works, in this confrontation with the dark and repressed aspects of hidden and sometimes deemed satanic and condemned desires, presents a new image of themselves and sometimes of humanity to their audience. An image that in many cases has become the key to understanding many sinful knots in human character, from lust, envy, and greed to avarice, stinginess, murder, and violence. Among these, perhaps the most significant areas, due to their controversial and rejected nature, have been cautiously examined even within the realm of literature and art. These are areas that directly address bodily desires and the definite but complex and multifaceted, and constantly denied, connection between body and psyche. What boundaries exist for bodily desires? How much are these boundaries born of morality, and how much of traditions and laws? Most importantly, how should the roots of these complex and sometimes infamous and forbidden desires be sought in the hidden depths of the human psyche?
The Fate of Banned Works and Their Authors
Discussing and listing such literary works from East to West is the subject of this series of reports. Works that many were known as banned for a long time, and their authors were sometimes accused of obscenity and disgrace and ostracized, and sometimes, conversely, gained fame and fortune for breaking taboos. Authors like Marquis de Sade, Joyce, Henry Miller, Nabokov, Kawabata, Llosa, Marquez, and Thomas Mann are among them. In the upcoming programs, our intention is to introduce and shed light on works that have either gathered dust in the darkness of shelves or have been overlooked with a lens of denial on some of their important aspects. Follow us in future issues as we unveil the mask from the controversial works of these authors and examine their influence and impact on each other.