Cruel And Unusual: Punishment and U.S. Culture

Jarvis, who is not further identified, examines cultural representations of punishment in relation to rival definitions of sadism and masochism, in order to foreground the bonds between discipline and desire and explore the entanglement of erotics and economics. He discusses The Scarlet Letter, the Rosenburgs, the African-American experience, Melville and masochism, the American prison film, and A Minority Report. Distributed by Stylus. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR