John Boswell

John Eastburn Boswell ( March 20 1947 - 24 December 1994 ) was a renowned historian and professor at the university Yale. Several studies have addressed the issue of homosexuality , especially homosexuality and religion ( Christian Vision of homosexuality ). He is a founding studies LGBT.

Biography

Born in Boston in 1947, Boswell made his university studies at Harvard , where he obtained his Ph.D. in History in 1975. He was then recruited by the history faculty of Yale University , where he earned the title of professor in 1982. In 1987, Boswell helped establish the research center gay and lesbians from Yale University. John Boswell died at age 47 from complications related to HIV.

Faith and Sexuality

Boswell was a Catholic practicing (converted). Although very religious, he was in total disagreement with the position of the Church Catholic, which condemns homosexual behavior and relationships. Part of his research and his work can be interpreted as an attempt to reconcile their sexual orientation and religious beliefs.

In his article Revolutions, Universals, and Sexual Categories (1982), Boswell compares the positions constructionist / essentialist positions with realistic / nominalist. In addition, he identifies three types of sexualities taxonomy:

• All human beings (or almost) are sexually polymorphic ... Accident external pressures such as socio-cultural, legal sanctions, religious beliefs, historical circumstances and / or personal, involved in the current expression of sexual feelings of a contemporary person.
• There are usually two sex categories (or more).
• A type of sexual response is normal ... the others are abnormal.

In Same-Sex Unions in premodern Europe, Boswell was interested in religious rites accompanying the adelphopoiia (adoption as a spiritual brother or sister) in the Byzantine Empire. He proposes to give the name of "unions of same-sex" to the link created and considers this union similar to marriage, including sexually. Several authors have criticized his research. They stress the fact that all available documents indicate a spiritual link, not carnal. Historian Brent Shaw has accused Boswell to demonstrate his ignorance of recent studies on the rite of adelphopoiia ^Publications

• The Royal Treasure: Muslim Communities Under the Crown of Aragon In The Fourteenth Century, Yale University Press, 1977

Sources

• Boswell, John (1989, 1982). "Revolutions, Universals, and Sexual Categories", Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian Past, Chauncey et al, eds. New York: Meridian, New American Library, Penguin Books. ISBN 0-452-01067-5.

Internal Links

• Christianity and Homosexuality
• George Chauncey
• Lillian Faderman
• Florence Tamagne
• Jonathan Ned Katz

External Links

• People with a history page dedicated to John Boswell

Notes

• Portal History
• LGBT portal

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