Reviews

In ancient times, eunuchs were used as bedchamber attendants, as suggested by the Greek origin of the word (eunouchos, eun, "bed," + ouchos, a variant of chein, "to keep"). But throughout history in diverse cultures they have had numerous important and complicated roles as disparate as that of the "sacred kingships" of Ancient Egypt, the religious hijras in India, and the celebrated castrati of Italian opera. Weaving together politics, law, medicine, music, anthropology, theology, literary and social history, and art, Scholz (Universities of Lodz and Bonn) offers a remarkable chronicle of the torment and passions of these individuals and their relationships with androgyny, homosexuality, transvestitism, and transsexuality. Translated from the German by Broadwin and Frisch, the latter of whom offers a brief epilog, this valuable title offers illustrations from a wide variety of sources. In his idiosyncratic investigation of the topic, Taylor (English, Univ. of Alabama) uses his own personal ruminations as well as the texts of three competing views of castration held by the Christian theologian Saint Augustine, the Humanist playwright Thomas Middleton (specifically, his allegorical 1624 play, A Game at Chess), and the modern Jewish psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Taylor's self-indulgent, wide-ranging, and verbose prose, replete with self-conscious cleverness, is alternately pompous and colloquial in this frustrating polemic: "It probably seems perverse to label something as `natural' as reproductive sex perverse." Over 50 pages of notes add to the pretentiousness of this disappointing title. In markedly different ways, these two titles seek to draw attention to the historical importance of eunuchs, with surprising implications for today. Of the two, Scholz's is recommended for large academic and public libraries, while Taylor's is only for the most comprehensive special collections on male sexuality.DJames E. Van Buskirk, San Francisco P.L. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.