Consuelo Concepcion writes:
> Still, as others have correctly stated, the terms
>"homosexual" and "heterosexual" are modern constructs
>not applicable to the Renaissance.
The problem of using contemporary terms to label historical phenomena has
been debated on other lists, but, in discussing, say, the sixteenth
century, must we write in early modern English, must we use only categories
that we have determined (in the present, mark you) were available to
sixteenth century people, must we (futilely?) attempt to forget four
centuries of history, and so on and on?
In fact, our concept of the sixteenth century is a modern construct, as is
our concept of the Renaissance. We have no unmediated knowledge of the
past, and all we know, we know in the present. Sadly.
Yours, Bill Godshalk
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