The Pornographic Moment

Lecturer: Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir, historian 

Hosted by MARK

The Pornographic Moment is the first study of the cultural history of pornography and obscenity in Iceland. Its main aim is to explore the definitions and framework of pornography and obscenity during the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. How was pornography produced in Iceland? What did people understand to be obscene in these times of changing attitudes towards sex? Where was the line between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ representations of nudity and sex, who drew that line and on what grounds? The book discusses how the categories of pornography and obscenity have been shaped by different agents with different interests and standpoints – for example the police, the courts and other public institutions, the media, non-governmental organisations, and various individuals, such as civil servants, experts and public commentators. It looks at ideas about pornography as the opposite of art and education, ideas about sexual freedom and sexual repression, censorship and freedom of speech, perversity and unnatural urges. The lecture will specifically focus on the enforcement of Icelandic pornography law in the 1960s and 1970s and the ideas at play in the courts’ discussion of pornography and obscenity. Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir is a historian and poet. She is the author of three books of poetry, most recently Stormwarning, published in English translation in the United States by Phoneme Media in 2018. She holds an MA degree in history from the University of Iceland.