Porn Hub: Brussels and the International Fear of Pornography Networks, 1880-1910

Regularly, we are told that violent pornography is penetrating our homes through our computers. This representation of pornography as an advanced, growing and dangerous network was created at the end of the nineteenth century and made pornography into a major social problem. Obscene publications were, of course, regarded as "immoral" before 1880, but from 1880 onwards, pornography changed from a moral problem of some perverted individuals to a product that could reach the whole of society via the network in Brussels, posing a national and even international danger. That idea created an outburst of fear at the end of the nineteenth century. This fear redefined pornography and put it on the map in Belgium and abroad as a major social problem. In other words, this change can only be understood when the fear around it is taken seriously. This is why I focus on the concrete emotions and expressions of fear that made politicians, judges and police respond with laws, lawsuits and investigations to regulate the phenomenon. 

This project has three main objectives: (1) to show how pornography was reimagined as part of an international network, paying attention to the role Brussels played in this process; (2) to analyse how this reimagination turned pornography into a major social problem; and (3) to study the ways in which this redefinition produced an upsurge of fear of pornography and how people expressed and practiced their emotions relative to this anxiety.

I will research this fear by paying close attention to how these emotions were experienced and practiced. To carry out this study, I will use 1) juridical documents, 2) parliamentary debates, 3) newspaper articles, 4) international conferences and 5) the letters of Félicien Rops. In order to interpret these sources I will use critical discourse analysis. 

The critical discourse analysis will focus on three elements: emotional practices, arguments and justifications, and the overall narrative. The first element analyses how people expressed and practised these emotions: what did they do when confronted with pornography in the streets of Brussels? How did they ‘name’ their emotions? What types of emotional communication did they describe, e.g. did they start yelling, blushing, or screaming when confronted with pornography? The second element looks at how people rationalised and justified these emotions. How did they use class, gender and political ideology to rationalise certain arguments, practices and reactions? The third element exposes the overall narrative of the discourses: how did people present the stories in which they encountered pornography in Brussels? In all these elements I will analyse different variables such as gender, social class, geographical provenance and political background.