Acts or Identities? Rethinking Foucault on Homosexuality

It is not possible to overestimate the legacy of Michel Foucault's History of Sexuality and in particular its first volume, The Will to Knowledge, on the historical study of sexual and gender transgressions. In this article I reflect on Foucault’s influence in this constantly evolving field of inquiry. Firstly, I will sum up the main line of the historiographical debate arising from the French philosopher’s work, from the now-outdated conflict between ‘essentialists ’ and ‘social constructionists’ to the most recent contributions of queer theorists. I will then focus on the historiography on non-normative sexualities and gender transgressions in the early modern Iberian world and its colonies. This case study will show which possible interactions can be established between theoretical reflections and the concrete work of historians. Addressing the coexistence of a multiplicity of understandings of sexual behaviours in different periods and in diverse social contexts, through the analysis of this literature, I propose a revision of the Foucauldian narrative, questioning the idea of the nineteenth-century ‘great paradigm shift ’.