MORALS VERSUS ART - CENSORSHIP, THE POLITICS OF INTERPRETATION, AND THE VICTORIAN NUDE

Censorship raises the question of how an object is deemed art or obsce nity. Although sociologists have studied how cultural objects are inte rpreted according to the cultural frameworks of the larger society, li ttle has been written on what makes one interpretation more compelling than another. I analyze the controversy that arose in New York City i n the late nineteenth century when an eminent art dealer was arrested by Anthony Comstock, leader of the New York Society for the Suppressio n of Vice, for selling photographic reproductions of nude paintings. I contend that arguments draw on cultural schemas that constitute, and are in turn constituted by, social structures. Simultaneously, powerfu l interpretations construct an appealing identity for adherents to the arguments. While Comstock had been supported by New York's upper clas s when he claimed that pornography threatened elite children, the arre st of a leading art dealer for selling the photographs cast doubt on t he moral purity of the upper class itself.