Three-Volume 'Histoire de la virilité' Examines Masculinity as Cultural Construct

Following the 2005-2006 'Histoire du corps', the same editorial team—Alain Corbin, Jean-Jacques Courtine, and Georges Vigarello—has produced 'Histoire de la virilité', a three-volume work published by Éditions du Seuil. This encyclopedic study treats virility not as a natural state but as a cultural ideal of power, assurance, maturity, and domination, subject to historical change. The volumes follow a chronological arc from antiquity to the present, labeled 'invention', 'triumph', and 'crisis'. Key ruptures include the Christian condemnation of homosexuality and valorization of chastity, and the 18th-century diffraction of virility models linked to the decline of aristocracy. The 19th century, introduced by Corbin as 'The Triumph of Virility', saw an accentuation of sexual dimorphism by naturalists and physiologists. The third volume addresses the 20th-21st centuries and a potential crisis of virility. The review notes omissions: the dandy's bodily construction, rock culture's amplification of archaic archetypes, and adolescent bodies as sites of new social norms. Despite these gaps, the work is praised for its diverse approaches and objects, continuing the 'Histoire du corps' project.