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Erotic literature

From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.

Erotic literature is literature, either as a form of erotica written to arouse the reader, or to give instruction in sexual technique. Most erotic literature is of novel length, although there are also erotic short stories.

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Sex manuals

Sex manuals such as the Kama Sutra are some of the best known works of erotic literature. The Ananga Ranga is a lesser known one, aimed specifically at preventing the separation of a husband and wife.

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Erotic fiction

There is a substantial overap between erotic literature and pornography, with the distinction typically being made on perceived literary merit. This is particularly true of works aimed at men, which generally use explicit sexual imagery. Many banned books have been suppressed because they used erotic imagery.

While there are substantial quantities of written pornographic works, very few of these come near the standards of mainstream literature.

Works of significant literary merit than can be classed as erotic literature include:

The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
Ulysses by James Joyce
Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin
The Story of O by Pauline Réage

Many women find romantic novels powerfully erotic.

Internet fiction

The arrival of the internet has ushered in a new era in erotic literature, allowing readers to indulge private fantasies without having to face a store clerk or mail carrier. Many websites now exist promoting commercial-grade erotic literature while others have sought to promote non-commercial story distribution, affording readers the opportunity to become authors, anonymously writing and posting their own stories. Most online authors adopt a colorful pseudonym (and often develop cult fan followings within their genre), though a small number use (or claim to use) their real names. Among transgendered authors, it's common practice to adopt a feminine alter-ego, though even there it's not unheard of for a writer to use his own first name.

The explosion of quantity in erotic literature has not translated into an equal rise in quality. Some stories do have serious literary merit and perhaps are even written by accomplished, published writers using pseudonyms to avoid having their commercial name associated with salacious material. However, the sheer numbers of erotic stories now being written and archived means the majority will be average or below-average in quality.

Over the years, many sites have limited themselves to a particular sub-genre (or fetish). Many websites have started, and then vanished (or have never been updated or properly maintained). Just a few of the more widely known sites that have endured over the years include:

Alt.Sex.Stories Text Repository. It began as a small FTP site in 1996 and now hosts the erotic literature of more than a thousand authors.
Authors of Literary Erotica webring. Hosted by webzine "Mind Caviar," the webring is a collection of websites posting erotica that "must have appeared in at least one legitimate publication, either paying or non-paying, on-line or printed in hard copy."
Nifty Erotic Stories Archive. Since 1993, Nifty has archived homosexual/alternative sexuality erotica and permits non-published amateurs to submit, provided the story does not portray graphic violence, abusive situations, etc. As of 2005, "Nifty" archived more than 82,000 stories.
Fictionmania. Founded in late 1997, Fictionmania, archives the works of any writers (amateur or professional), provided the story involves transgendered erotica. In 2002, Fictionmania averaged 161 new story submissions each month.

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