Early 20th century French spanking literature
Encyclopedia
Spanking literature refers to the genre of fiction, also known as flagellation
, and a subset of sadomasochist literature
. Spanking literature reached its "golden age" in the early 20th century in France and lasted nearly forty years. It began in the early 1900s, grew significantly in the 1920s, reached its peak in the 1930s and came to an end at the outbreak of World War II.
Several things are notable and peculiar about this period. First, it was a very local, French, phenomenon that did not have counterparts in other countries—not in the UK, not in the Netherlands
, and not in Germany
either.
After 1950, the French book market quickly returned to normal, but the genre of spanking literature was left behind. The war effectively put an end to the kink
-tolerant spirit that had flourished in Paris before. No other country jumped in to fill the gap. There were individual erotic publications, including some with BDSM
themes, but these were exceptions, not a mass phenomenon, and many in fact were banned
shortly after they had appeared. 1968 put an end to much of this conservatism, but by then the anti-spanking movement had become so strong that spanking novels were unpublishable for other reasons.
The French "golden age of spanking literature" was followed by a gap of 50 years until the 1990s which brought a new, and this time worldwide, boom of spanking literature.
, catering to a fetish
ist and spankophile (or as it was called then, flagellant
) clientele. The publications were typically in novel
or novella
form, often illustrated
with spanking drawings. They were sold over the counter in selected adult bookshops and by mail order. The heart and center of this literature genre was Paris
. There were several publishers and many more imprint
s under which the novels were published. The author
s and illustrator
s typically used pseudonym
s to protect their privacy
.
In terms of content, the most popular subject matter of that era seems to have been the corporal punishment
of girl
s (either preteen
or post-puberty
, between 13 and 17 years of age) by their (mostly female) authority figures. The typical pairing
was F/f. The spankings described were harsh (whippings "until the blood
came" were not infrequent) and disciplinary
in nature, at least in pretext
. At the same time however, they were also often described as a pleasurable
and/or erotic experience for both the spanker
and, in the case of adolescents, also for the spankee (being past puberty and discovering their sexuality
). But any pleasure taken from such corporal punishment was typically hidden, secret or unofficial because the official scenario was normally one of non-consensual disciplinary spanking between an authority figure and their charge
.
There is also another aspect that is notable about the spanking literature of that era. Modern spanking literature (since the late 20th century) often places the spankee into the focus: the reader is interested in what the spankee feels and experiences, physically and emotionally. The spankee is the protagonist
and in the course of a longer story or novel, will often be spanked by different spankers, each giving a somewhat different experience.
In the erotic spanking literature of the early 20th century, the authors usually focused on the spanker, who is as a rule a dominant and a very attractive woman. The spankees are more or less objects to her: proof of the spanker's power. In the course of a longer story or novel, the spanker will often punish different spankees in different, creative ways.
Besides the obvious physical nature of corporal punishment, the works always placed a strong emphasis on the emotional side of it: the feeling
s of shame
, embarrassment
and humiliation
that came with such punishment. Individual works of the genre also addressed "related" fetishes such as bondage
, imprisonment
, enema
s or petticoat punishment.
(depending on the year of death, or where unknown of the last known publication, of their copyright
holder), making it legal for everyone to use and republish them.
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
, and a subset of sadomasochist literature
Sadism and masochism in fiction
The role of sadism and masochism in fiction attracts serious, scholarly attention. Anthony Storr has commented that the volume of sadomasochist pornography shows that sadomasochistic interest is widespread in Western society; John Kucich has noted the importance of masochism in late-19th century...
. Spanking literature reached its "golden age" in the early 20th century in France and lasted nearly forty years. It began in the early 1900s, grew significantly in the 1920s, reached its peak in the 1930s and came to an end at the outbreak of World War II.
Several things are notable and peculiar about this period. First, it was a very local, French, phenomenon that did not have counterparts in other countries—not in the UK, not in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and not in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
either.
After 1950, the French book market quickly returned to normal, but the genre of spanking literature was left behind. The war effectively put an end to the kink
Kink
* A twist or bend in something such as rope, cable, hair or IG curveKink or KINK can refer to:* Kink , a colloquial term for non-normative sexual behavior...
-tolerant spirit that had flourished in Paris before. No other country jumped in to fill the gap. There were individual erotic publications, including some with BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
themes, but these were exceptions, not a mass phenomenon, and many in fact were banned
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
shortly after they had appeared. 1968 put an end to much of this conservatism, but by then the anti-spanking movement had become so strong that spanking novels were unpublishable for other reasons.
The French "golden age of spanking literature" was followed by a gap of 50 years until the 1990s which brought a new, and this time worldwide, boom of spanking literature.
Specifics
The early 20th century saw a flourishing of spanking fiction in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, catering to a fetish
Fetish
Fetish may refer to:* Fetishism, the attribution of religious or mystical qualities to inanimate objects* Sexual fetishism, sexual attraction to objects, body parts, or situations not conventionally viewed as being sexual in nature....
ist and spankophile (or as it was called then, flagellant
Flagellant
Flagellants are practitioners of an extreme form of mortification of their own flesh by whipping it with various instruments.- History :Flagellantism was a 13th and 14th centuries movement, consisting of radicals in the Catholic Church. It began as a militant pilgrimage and was later condemned by...
) clientele. The publications were typically in novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
or novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
form, often illustrated
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
with spanking drawings. They were sold over the counter in selected adult bookshops and by mail order. The heart and center of this literature genre was Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. There were several publishers and many more imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
s under which the novels were published. The author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
s and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
s typically used pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s to protect their privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
.
In terms of content, the most popular subject matter of that era seems to have been the corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
of girl
Girl
A girl is any female human from birth through childhood and adolescence to attainment of adulthood. The term may also be used to mean a young woman.-Etymology:...
s (either preteen
Preteen
Preadolescence is a stage of human development following early childhood and prior to adolescence. It may be defined as ending with the beginning of puberty or with the beginning of the teenage stage, the time frames in which adolescence is considered to begin. In terms of age in years,...
or post-puberty
Puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of reproduction, as initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads; the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy...
, between 13 and 17 years of age) by their (mostly female) authority figures. The typical pairing
Pairing
The concept of pairing treated here occurs in mathematics.-Definition:Let R be a commutative ring with unity, and let M, N and L be three R-modules.A pairing is any R-bilinear map e:M \times N \to L...
was F/f. The spankings described were harsh (whippings "until the blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
came" were not infrequent) and disciplinary
Disciplinary
Disciplinary is a term used to describe types of knowledge, expertise, skills, people, projects, communities, problems, challenges, studies, inquiry, approaches, and research areas that are strongly associated with academic areas of study or areas of professional practice...
in nature, at least in pretext
Pretext
A pretext is an excuse to do something or say something. Pretexts may be based on a half-truth or developed in the context of a misleading fabrication. Pretexts have been used to conceal the true purpose or rationale behind actions and words....
. At the same time however, they were also often described as a pleasurable
Pleasure
Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria...
and/or erotic experience for both the spanker
Spanker
Spanker can refer to:* One who administers a spanking* Spanker , a type of sail on a sailboat* Spanker , a famous 18th century famous thoroughbred race horse...
and, in the case of adolescents, also for the spankee (being past puberty and discovering their sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
). But any pleasure taken from such corporal punishment was typically hidden, secret or unofficial because the official scenario was normally one of non-consensual disciplinary spanking between an authority figure and their charge
Charge
Charge or charged may refer to:* Charge , illegal contact by pushing or moving into another player's torso* Charge , a six-note trumpet or bugle piece denoting the call to rush forward...
.
There is also another aspect that is notable about the spanking literature of that era. Modern spanking literature (since the late 20th century) often places the spankee into the focus: the reader is interested in what the spankee feels and experiences, physically and emotionally. The spankee is the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
and in the course of a longer story or novel, will often be spanked by different spankers, each giving a somewhat different experience.
In the erotic spanking literature of the early 20th century, the authors usually focused on the spanker, who is as a rule a dominant and a very attractive woman. The spankees are more or less objects to her: proof of the spanker's power. In the course of a longer story or novel, the spanker will often punish different spankees in different, creative ways.
Besides the obvious physical nature of corporal punishment, the works always placed a strong emphasis on the emotional side of it: the feeling
Feeling
Feeling is the nominalization of the verb to feel. The word was first used in the English language to describe the physical sensation of touch through either experience or perception. The word is also used to describe experiences, other than the physical sensation of touch, such as "a feeling of...
s of shame
Shame
Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame....
, embarrassment
Embarrassment
Embarrassment is an emotional state of intense discomfort with oneself, experienced upon having a socially unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others. Usually some amount of loss of honour or dignity is involved, but how much and the type depends on the embarrassing situation...
and humiliation
Humiliation
Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It can be brought about through bullying, intimidation, physical or mental mistreatment or trickery, or by embarrassment if a person is revealed to have...
that came with such punishment. Individual works of the genre also addressed "related" fetishes such as bondage
Bondage
Bondage may refer to:*Debt bondage, a modern form of slavery in which people are bound by debt, rather than legal ownership*Bondage , the practice of tying people up for pleasure*Self-bondage, the practice of tying oneself up for pleasure...
, imprisonment
Imprisonment
Imprisonment is a legal term.The book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co....
, enema
Enema
An enema is the procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum and colon via the anus. The increasing volume of the liquid causes rapid expansion of the lower intestinal tract, often resulting in very uncomfortable bloating, cramping, powerful peristalsis, a feeling of extreme urgency and...
s or petticoat punishment.
Reprints and translations
These books were written in French, and only a limited number were later translated to other languages such as English or German. Some novels saw reprints after World War II, up to the 1970s. Today, some of the works of this period have entered the public domainPublic domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
(depending on the year of death, or where unknown of the last known publication, of their copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
holder), making it legal for everyone to use and republish them.
Publishers
- Paul Brenet (imprints: Éditions P. Brenet, Librairie Artistique, Édition Parisienne, Librairie Artistique et Édition Parisienne Réunies, Librairie Générale (probably)
- Cercle du Livre Précieux, publishers of the complete works of the Marquis de SadeMarquis de SadeDonatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
- Charles CarringtonCharles CarringtonCharles Carrington was a leading British publisher of erotica in late-19th and early 20th century Europe. Born Paul Harry Ferdinando in Bethnal Green, England on 11 November 1867, he moved in 1895 from London to Paris where he published and sold books in the rue Faubourg Montmartre and rue de...
(Paul Harry Ferdinando) - Jean Fort (many imprints including his best known Collection des Orties Blanches)
- Select Bibliothèque (Roland Brévannes?)
Authors
- Carlo Albérica
- Don Brennus Aléra (Bernard Valonnes, Roland Brévannes?)
- Maurice d’Apinac
- P. Beloti (Paulette Vergès)
- Lord Birchisgood
- Jean Bustarès
- Victor du Cheynier
- Jean Claqueret
- René-Michel Desergy
- Pierre Dumarchey (pseudonyms include Pierre Mac Orlan, Pierre du Bourdel, Sadie Blackeyes, Pierre de Jusange, Doctor Fowler, Sadinet, Claude de Saint-Hieble (in L'Instrument des apothicaires, Jean Fort, 1920), Chevalier de X)
- Pierre Guénolé, a pseudo-scientific populariser
- Liane Lauré
- James Lovebirch
- Alan Mac ClydeAlan Mac ClydeAlan Mac Clyde is the pseudonym of two different French authors of pornographic novels, the first active in the 1930s, the second in the 1950s....
- Louis Malteste (Jacques d'Icy)
- Jean MartinetJean MartinetJean Martinet was a French lieutenant-colonel and Inspector General, and one of the first great drill masters of modern times. Martinet served during the reign of Louis XIV and made way to French conquest in the Holy Roman Empire. He was a severe drillmaster, which made him unpopular among...
- Jean de Merlin
- Bernard Montorgueil
- Gilbert Natès
- Aimé Van Rod (collective pseudonym)
- René Schwaeblé
- Max des Vignons
- Jean de Villiot (collective pseudonym published by Charles Carrington: contributors include Hugues RebellHugues RebellGeorges Grassal de Choffat or Hugues Rebell was a French author. He wrote against Christianity and professed paganism while remaining a Catholic...
and Hector France) - Maurice de Vindas
- Jean de Virgans
- Charles Virmaître
Illustrators
- Don Brennus Aléra (Tack, Esbey and Selby; Roland Brévannes?)
- Lewis Bald
- P. Beloti
- Édouard Bernard
- Carlo
- René-Michel Desergy
- Pierre Dumarchey (Jean Macorlan)
- J. X. Dumoulin
- P. Fusty
- René Giffey
- Pierre Guénolé
- C. Helsey
- Chéri HérouardChéri HerouardChéri Hérouard was a French illustrator who was most famously known for his forty-five year work for French society magazine, La Vie Parisienne. Born as Darling-Louis-Marie-Aime Haumé in Rocroi on January 6, 1881, Hérouard's father died in a hunting accident just before his birth...
(Herric) - Charles Hirlemann
- Luc Lafnet (Jim Black, Viset, Lucas O)
- Etienne Le Rallic (R. Fanny)
- Martin van MaëleMartin van MaëleMartin van Maële was a French illustrator of early 20th century literature. He is renowned for his work in the field of erotic literature...
- Louis Malteste (Ignotus)
- Bernard Montorgueil
- Leon Pierre
- M.-K. Sc.
- Sergisky
- Georges Topfer (Gaston Smit)
Selected Works
- Les Flagellants et les flagellés de Paris (1902) by Charles Virmaître.
- Woman and Her Master (1904) by Georges Grassal writing as Jean de Villiot. A novel of flagellation erotica translated into English by Charles CarringtonCharles CarringtonCharles Carrington was a leading British publisher of erotica in late-19th and early 20th century Europe. Born Paul Harry Ferdinando in Bethnal Green, England on 11 November 1867, he moved in 1895 from London to Paris where he published and sold books in the rue Faubourg Montmartre and rue de...
from the original 1902 French edition, La Femme et son maître; also titled Black Lust.
- Birch in the Boudoir (1905) by Anonymous (attributed to Hugues RebellHugues RebellGeorges Grassal de Choffat or Hugues Rebell was a French author. He wrote against Christianity and professed paganism while remaining a Catholic...
, real name Georges Grassal), translated and published in Paris by Charles Carrington. Reprinted in 1989 by Blue Moon Books as Beauty in the Birch. An exchange of racy letters about the amatory and disciplinary experiences of a new master of an English school for wayward girls and a woman living in an Arabian harem.
- The Mistress and The Slave (1905) by George Merder. A study of female domination and sadomasochism as an upper-class businessman is enslaved and brutalized by a Parisian street-girl. Translated from the original French edition, La Maitresse et l'Esclave (Maison Mystere, ca. 1903).
- La Flagellation Passionnelle (1906) by Don Brennus Aléra, pseudonym of Roland Brévannes. Between 1903 and 1936 he wrote and illustrated around 100 historical and contemporary novels about flagellation and crossdressing petticoat punishment.
- Nos Belles flagellantes (1907) by Aimé Van Rod (Édition Parisienne: Paris). French author of dozens of flagellation novels including: Nouveax Contes de Fouet (1907), The Conjugal Whip (Le fouet conjugal) (1908), Le Fouet dominateur ou L'École des vierges, Les Mystéres du Fouet (both 1909), The Humiliations of Miss Madge (1912), Les Malheurs de Colette (1914), Visites fantastiques au pays du fouet (1922), Le Precepteur (1923), Memories d'une Fouettee (1924), et al.
- La Comtesse au fouet (1908), by Pierre Dumarchey (Pierre Mac Orlan). The story of a cruel dominatrix who turns the male hero into a "dog-man". Under the pen-name Miss Sadie Blackeyes, he wrote popular flagellation novels such as Baby douce fille (1910), Miss: The memoirs of a young lady of quality containing recollections of boarding school discipline and intimate details of her chastisement (1912), and Petite Dactylo et autres textes de flagellation (1913). And as "anonymous" wrote Masochists in America (Le Masochisme en Amérique: Recueil des récits et impressions personnelles d'une victime du féminisme) (1905).
- Éducation Anglaise (1908) by Lord Kidrodstock (Édition Parisienne: Paris); early and unusual text featuring forced cross-dressing and flagellation. Boys and girls in an English boarding school are dressed alike in girl’s clothes, tight corsets, narrow high-heeled boots, etc.
- Coups de Fouet (1908) by Lord Birchisgood [pseud.] (Édition Parisienne, Roberts & Dardailons Éditeurs: Paris). Author of Le Tour d'Europe d'un flagellant (1909), et al.
- Esclaves Modernes (1910) by Jean de Virgans; unusual power exchange story with white European women whipped and abused by African natives. Virgans wrote numerous flagellation novels.
- Les Cinq fessées de Suzette (Five Smackings of Suzette) (1910) by James Lovebirch [pseud.], published in Paris. Author of many popular flagellation novels such as L'Avatar de Lucette, Peggy Briggs, Au Bon Vieux Temps (all from 1913), and The Flagellations of Suzette (1915), Paris: Library Aristique.
- Le Fouet au Couvent (1911) by Aimé Van Rod [pseud.]. (Édition Parisienne, Roberts & Dardaillon, illustrated by Georges Topfer). One of many novels by Van Rod that mixes perverse religiosity and flagellation.
- Qui Aime Bien (1912) by Jacques d'Icy, pseudonym of author and artist Louis Malteste (Jean Fort: Paris), illustrated by Maltese. Writer of many books of spanking/whipping erotica such as: Chatie Bien (1913), Monsieur Paulette et Ses Epouses (1921), Paulette Trahie (1922), Brassée de faits (1925), Les Mains Chéries (1927), et al.
- Le règne de la cravache et de la bottine (The Reign of the Riding Crop and the Boot) (1913) by Roland Brévannes, pseudonym of Bernard Valonnes (Select Bibliothèque: Paris); humiliating animal roleplay, female-dominated men are forced to crawl about in bear suits. A theme explored in several of his books; in Les Esclaves-montures (Slave Mountings) (1920) and Le Club des Monteurs Humaines (1924), men are turned into obedient cart ponies.
- Sévère Éducation (1928) by René-Michel Desergy (Paris, Collection des Orties Blanches) — illustrations by N. Carman
- Le Dressage de la Maid-Esclave (1930) by Bernard Valonnes, pseudonym of Roland Brévannes (Select Bibliotheque: Paris); two-volume story of pony play with women trained as cart-pulling slaves.
- The Discipline of Odette (1930) by Jean MartinetJean MartinetJean Martinet was a French lieutenant-colonel and Inspector General, and one of the first great drill masters of modern times. Martinet served during the reign of Louis XIV and made way to French conquest in the Holy Roman Empire. He was a severe drillmaster, which made him unpopular among...
[pseud.] (Éditions Prima); English translation of the French whipping/spanking novel Matée par le fouet.
- Bagne de femmes (Jail for Girls) (1931) by Alan Mac ClydeAlan Mac ClydeAlan Mac Clyde is the pseudonym of two different French authors of pornographic novels, the first active in the 1930s, the second in the 1950s....
[pseud.], Librairie Générale: Paris. One of the earliest of dozens of sadomasochistic novels by this unknown author. Followed by Dressage (1931), La Cité de l'horreur (1933), Servitude (1934), Dolly, Esclave (1936), et al.
- Dresseuses d'hommes (1931) by Florence Fulbert (Jean Fort: Paris), illustrated by Jim BlackJim BlackJim Black is a jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas, among others. He attended Berklee College of Music....
, aka Luc Lafnet. Femdom story of men dominated and punished by women.