Review of Les Travaux d’Hercule ou la Rocambole de la Fouterie by anonymous published in 1790

Abstract

Labelled as pornographic in the late 18th century, obscene erotic texts and representations unveiled societal cultural taboos, forbidden desires and intimate thoughts of the people of their time. The narrative built around these sexual fantasies can, therefore, be understood as a carrier of collective representations, conscious or unconscious. The plethora of erotic texts produced during the French Revolution can, thus, be interpreted as symbolic of the political turmoil and social upheaval happening at the time.