Professor Peter Cryle’s research interests include representations of psycho-sexual pathology in popular and middle-brow French fiction of the fin-de-siècle. He also has a strong interest in the literature of libertine enlightenment in French.
BA (Queensland), MA (Queensland), DU (Nice)
Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques, FAHA
Peter Cryle is the author of Bilan Critique : "L'Exil et le royaume" d'Albert Camus. Essai d'analyse (Paris: Lettres Modernes, 1973); Roger Martin du Gard, ou De l'intégrité de l'être à l'intégrité du roman (Paris: Lettres Modernes, 1984); The Thematics of Commitment: The Tower and the Plain (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985); Geometry in the Boudoir: Shifting Positions in Classical French Erotic Narrative (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994); The Telling of the Act: Eroticism as Narrative in French Fiction of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Delaware: Delaware University Press, 2001); La Crise du plaisir, 1740-1830 (Lille: Septentrion, 2003). He is co-editor, with Lisa O'Connell, of Libertine Enlightenment: Sex, Liberty, and Licence in the Eighteenth Century (London: Palgrave, 2003).
Recent articles and book chapters include "Etat présent de la critique sadienne", Dix-Huitième Siècle, 31, 1999, 507-524; "Beyond the Canonical Sade", Paragraph, Vol. XXIII, 1, March 2000, 15-25; "Making Room for Women in Pornographic Writing of the Early Nineteenth Century: Entre chien et loup, by Félicité de Choiseul-Meuse", in Lloyd and Nelson (eds) Women Seeking Expression, Monash, Monash Romance Studies, 2001, 11-23; "Petite-maîtrise: The Ethics of Libertine Foppery", Esprit Créateur, 2003, and "Le Marbre féminin", Revue des Sciences Humaines, 2003.
He is currently preparing a book on representations of psycho-sexual pathology in popular and middle-brow French fiction of the fin-de-siècle, tentatively entitled The Pathological Unknown.
Stephens, Elizabeth and Cryle, Peter (2017) Eugenics and the normal body: the role of visual images and intelligence testing in framing the treatment of people with disabilities in the early twentieth century. Continuum, 1-12. doi:10.1080/10304312.2016.1275126
Book: Normality: A critical genealogy
Stephens, Elizabeth and Cryle, Peter Normality: A critical genealogy. Chicago, IL, United States: University of Chicago Press, 2017.
Journal Article: Italian sexualities uncovered, 1789-1914
Cryle, Peter (2016) Italian sexualities uncovered, 1789-1914. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 25 2: 354-356.
A Critical Genealogy of Normality
(2010–2015) ARC Discovery Projects
Frigidity in France: the history of a sexual pathology and of its place in feminist critique
(2005–2007) ARC Discovery Projects
(2001) ARC Australian Research Council (Large grants)
Mimesis: mimesis
Doctor Philosophy
Child sexual abuse perpetrated by women: a genealogical approach to the constitution of an unthinkable crime
Doctor Philosophy
Fluid boundaries: Hypnotism as science in late nineteenth-century France
(2016) Doctor Philosophy
Normality: A critical genealogy
Stephens, Elizabeth and Cryle, Peter Normality: A critical genealogy. Chicago, IL, United States: University of Chicago Press, 2017.
Frigidity: An intellectual history
Cryle, Peter and Moore, Alison Frigidity: An intellectual history. Edited by John H. Arnold, Joanna Bourke and Sean Brady Basingstoke, Hampshire, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
Sexuality at the fin de siècle: The makings of a "central problem"
Sexuality at the fin de siècle: The makings of a "central problem". Edited by Peter Cryle and Christopher E. Forth Newark, DE, United States: University of Delaware Press, 2008.
Cryle, P. M. La Crise du Plaisir 1740-1830. Lille: Septentrion Presses Universitaires, 2003.
Cryle, Peter The Telling of the Act: Eroticism as Narrative in French Fiction of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Delaware: University of Delaware Press, 2002.
The Telling of the Act: Sexuality as Narrative in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century France
Cryle, P. M. The Telling of the Act: Sexuality as Narrative in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century France. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2001.
Geometry in the boudoir: Configurations of French erotic narrative
Cryle, Peter Geometry in the boudoir: Configurations of French erotic narrative. Ithaca, NY, United States: Cornell University Press, 1994.
Unlocking Australia's language potential: Profiles of 9 key languages in Australia (Vol. 3: French)
Cryle, P, Freadman, A. and Hanna, B. Unlocking Australia's language potential: Profiles of 9 key languages in Australia (Vol. 3: French). Canberra: National Languages & Literacy Institute of Australia, 1993.
Anachronistic Readings of Eighteenth-Century Libertinage in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century France
Cryle, Peter (2015). Anachronistic Readings of Eighteenth-Century Libertinage in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century France. In Kate Fisher and Rebecca Langlands (Ed.), Sex, Knowledge, and Receptions of the Past (pp. 65-85) Oxford, London: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199660513.001.0001
Translation as lexical invention: an intellectual history of frigiditas and anaphrodisia
Cryle, Peter (2015). Translation as lexical invention: an intellectual history of frigiditas and anaphrodisia. In Heike Bauer (Ed.), Sexology and Translation: Cultural and Scientific Encounters Across the Modern World (pp. 19-36) Philadelphia, PA, United States: Temple University Press.
Fairytale humanity in French libertine fiction of the mid-eighteenth century
Cryle, Peter (2013). Fairytale humanity in French libertine fiction of the mid-eighteenth century. In Alexander Cook, Ned Curthoys and Shino Konishi (Ed.), Representing humanity in the Age of Enlightenment (pp. 161-172) London, United Kingdom: Pickering & Chatto Publishers.
Humanities research agendas in Australia since 1969: literary and textual studies
Cryle, Peter (2012). Humanities research agendas in Australia since 1969: literary and textual studies. In Ian Donaldson and Mark Finnane (Ed.), Taking stock: the humanities in Australian life since 1968 (pp. 46-52) Perth, WA, Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
On the unsteadiness of sexual truth in eighteenth-century France
Cryle, Peter (2011). On the unsteadiness of sexual truth in eighteenth-century France. In Kate Fisher and Sarah Toulalan (Ed.), Bodies, sex and desire from the renaissance to the present (pp. 168-180) Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.
Introduction: The Makings of a Central Problem
Cryle, P. M. and Forth, C. E. (2008). Introduction: The Makings of a Central Problem. In Cryle, P. M. and Forth, C. E. (Ed.), Sexuality at the Fin de Siècle: The Making of a "Central Problem" (pp. 9-22) Newark, Delaware, USA: University of Delaware Press.
Cryle, P. M. (2008). The Aesthetics of the Spasm. In Cryle, P. M. and Forth, C. E. (Ed.), Sexuality at the Fin de Siècle: The Makings of a "Central Problem" (pp. 77-92) Newark, Delaware, USA: University of Delaware Press.
Cryle, P. M. (2005). Dorat. In Patrick Wald Lasowski (Ed.), Romanciers libertins du dix-huitieme siecle, Vol II (pp. 1451-1476) Paris, France: Gallimard.
Codified indulgence: The niceties of libertine ethics in Casanova and his contemporaries.
Cryle, P. M. (2004). Codified indulgence: The niceties of libertine ethics in Casanova and his contemporaries.. In P. Cryle and L. O'Connell (Ed.), Libertine Enlightenment: Sex, Liberty and Licence in the Eighteenth Century. (pp. 48-60) Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sex, liberty and licence in the eighteenth century
Cryle, P. M. and O'Connell, L. M. (2004). Sex, liberty and licence in the eighteenth century. In Peter Cryle and Lisa O'Connell (Ed.), Libertine Enlightenment: Sex, Liberty and Licence in the Eighteenth Century (pp. 1-14) Basingstoke, England ; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Producing the voice in erotic narrative
Cryle, P. M. (2001). Producing the voice in erotic narrative. In B. Nelson, A. Freadman and P. Anderson (Ed.), Telling Performances: Essays on Gender, Narrative, and Performance (pp. 97-133) Newark: University of Delaware Press.
Cryle, P. M. (2000). The Kama Sutra as curriculum. In C. O'Farrell, D. Meadmore, E. McWilliam and C. Symes (Ed.), Taught Bodies (pp. 17-25) New York: Peter Lang.
Nouvelles, aspects thematiques
Cryle, P. M. (1999). Nouvelles, aspects thematiques. In Raymond Gay-Crosier (Ed.), Albert Camus 18: La reception de l'oeuvre de Camus en U.R.S.S. et en R.D.A. (pp. 160-165) Paris: Lettres modernes minard.
Stephens, Elizabeth and Cryle, Peter (2017) Eugenics and the normal body: the role of visual images and intelligence testing in framing the treatment of people with disabilities in the early twentieth century. Continuum, 1-12. doi:10.1080/10304312.2016.1275126
Italian sexualities uncovered, 1789-1914
Cryle, Peter (2016) Italian sexualities uncovered, 1789-1914. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 25 2: 354-356.
Female Intimacies in Seventeenth-Century French Literature by Marianne Legault (review)
Cryle, Peter (2015) Female Intimacies in Seventeenth-Century French Literature by Marianne Legault (review). Journal of the History of Sexuality, 24 3: 534-536.
Cryle, Peter (2014) Sade: Queer Theorist. Modern Language Review, 109 806-807. doi:10.5699/modelangrevi.109.3.0806
Carnal Reading: Early Modern Language and Bodies
Cryle, Peter (2013) Carnal Reading: Early Modern Language and Bodies. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 22 3: 544-546.
Hysteria complicated by ecstasy: the case of Nanette Leroux
Cryle, Peter (2012) Hysteria complicated by ecstasy: the case of Nanette Leroux. French History, 26 4: 569-570. doi:10.1093/fh/crs110
Beccalossi, Chiara and Cryle, Peter (2012) Recent developments in the intellectual history of medicine: A special issue of the journal of the history of medicine. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 67 1: 1-6. doi:10.1093/jhmas/jrr020
Vaginismus: A Franco-American story
Cryle, Peter (2012) Vaginismus: A Franco-American story. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 67 1: 71-93. doi:10.1093/jhmas/jrq079
Cryle, Peter (2010) La Forme et le sens: nouvelles etudes sur le roman des Lumieres [The form and senses: new studies on the Enlightenment novel]. French Studies, 64 4: 485-486. doi:10.1093/fs/knq125
Frigidity at the Fin de Siecle in France: A Slippery and Capacious Concept
Moore, Alison and Cryle, Peter (2010) Frigidity at the Fin de Siecle in France: A Slippery and Capacious Concept. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 19 2: 243-261. doi:10.1353/sex.0.0096
The average and the normal in nineteenth-century French medical discourse
Cryle, Peter (2010) The average and the normal in nineteenth-century French medical discourse. Psychology and Sexuality, 1 3: 214-225. doi:10.1080/19419899.2010.494893
Interrogating the work of Thomas W. Laqueur
Cryle, Peter (2009) Interrogating the work of Thomas W. Laqueur. Sexualities, 12 4: 411-417. doi:10.1177/1363460709105707
Les choses et les mots: Missing words and blurry things in the history of sexuality
Cryle, Peter (2009) Les choses et les mots: Missing words and blurry things in the history of sexuality. Sexualities, 12 4: 437-450. doi:10.1177/1363460709105709
"A terrible ordeal from every point of view": (Not) managing female sexuality on the wedding night
Cryle, Peter (2009) "A terrible ordeal from every point of view": (Not) managing female sexuality on the wedding night. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 18 1: 44-64.
Cryle, Peter and Downing, Lisa (2009) Feminine sexual pathologies. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 18 1: 1-7. doi:10.1353/sex.0.0031
Playful theory: George Poulet's phenomenological thematics
Cryle, Peter (2008) Playful theory: George Poulet's phenomenological thematics. Culture, Theory and Critique, 49 1: 21-34. doi:10.1080/14735780802024224
Cryle, Peter M. (2008) Building a sexological concept through fictional narrative: The case of 'frigidity' in late nineteenth-century France. French Cultural Studies, 19 2: 115-140. doi:10.1177/0957155808089661
De la devote marivaudienne, et de l'indulgence des petits plaisirs
Cryle, P. M. (2008) De la devote marivaudienne, et de l'indulgence des petits plaisirs. Revue des Sciences Humaines, 291 3: 51-64.
La Mettrie and charlatanism: The dynamics of recognition and denunciation
Cryle, Peter (2006) La Mettrie and charlatanism: The dynamics of recognition and denunciation. Cultural and Social History: The Journal of the Social History Society, 3 3: 301-314. doi:10.1191/1478003806cs061oa
The open secret: Hiding and revealing sexuality in the roman de moeurs (1880-1905)
Cryle, P. M. (2006) The open secret: Hiding and revealing sexuality in the roman de moeurs (1880-1905). Romanic Review, 97 2: 185-200.
Charlatanism in the 'age of reason'
Cryle, P. M. (2006) Charlatanism in the 'age of reason'. Cultural and Social History: The Journal of the Social History Society, 3 3: 243-249. doi:10.1191/1478003806cs060ed
Foretelling pathology: The poetics of prognosis
Cryle, Peter (2006) Foretelling pathology: The poetics of prognosis. French Cultural Studies, 17 1: 107-122. doi:10.1177/0957155806060799
'Desiring the dead': Necrophilia and nineteenth-century French literature
Cryle, P. (2005) 'Desiring the dead': Necrophilia and nineteenth-century French literature. Modern Language Review, 100 505-506.
Love and epistemology in French fiction of the Fin-de-Siecle search of the pathological unknown
Cryle, P. M. (2004) Love and epistemology in French fiction of the Fin-de-Siecle search of the pathological unknown. Dix-Neuf. Journal of the Society of Dix-Neuvimistes, 3 55-74.
Séduction et dialogue dans l’oeuvre de Crébillon. By Genevieve Salvan. Paris, Champion, 378 pp.
Cryle, Peter (2004) Séduction et dialogue dans l’oeuvre de Crébillon. By Genevieve Salvan. Paris, Champion, 378 pp.. French Studies, 58 1: 111-112. doi:10.1093/fs/58.1.111
Review of: Sade: From materialism to pornography
Cryle, P. (2003) Review of: Sade: From materialism to pornography. Modern Language Review, 98 4: 992-993. doi:10.2307/3737977
Cryle, Peter (2003) Sade, ou la tentation totalitaire: etude sur l'anthropologie litteraire dans 'La Nouvelle Justine'et 'L'Histoire de Juliette'. By Svein-Eirik Fauskevag.. Modern Language Review, 98 4: 990-992. doi:10.2307/3737976
Sade: The Libertine Novels. By John Phillips.
Cryle, Peter (2003) Sade: The Libertine Novels. By John Phillips.. Modern Language Review, 98 4: 990-992. doi:10.2307/3737976
Cryle, P. M. (2003) Le Marbre feminin. Revue d'Histoire des Sciences Humaines, 271: 147-155.
Petite-maitrise: the ethics of libertine foppery
Cryle, P. (2003) Petite-maitrise: the ethics of libertine foppery. L'Esprit Createur, 43 4 (Winter): 62-72. doi:10.1353/esp.2010.0247
Research in French: Responding to the imperatives of curriculum
Cryle, P. M. (2003) Research in French: Responding to the imperatives of curriculum. AUMLA: Journal of The Australasian Universities Language And Literature Association, 100 November: 29-40.
The errors of desire: 18th century sentimental novels
Cryle, P. (2001) The errors of desire: 18th century sentimental novels. French Studies, 55 2: 250-251. doi:10.1093/fs/55.2.250
Cryle, P. M. (2000) (Review) Des bommes, des femmes et des cboses: langages de I'objet dans le roman de Balzac a Proust. By Juliette Frolich. (Essais et savoirs). Saint-Denis, Presses Universitaires de Vincennes, 1997. 191 pp. Pb 130 F.. French Studies, 53 3: 95-96. doi:10.1093/fs/LIV.1.95
Cryle, P. (2000) Beyond the canonical Sade. Paragraph: A Journal of Modern Critical Theory, 23 1: 15-25. doi:10.3366/para.2000.23.1.15
Cryle, P. M. (2000) Gaetan Brulotte. Oeuvres de chair: figures du discours erotique. Quebec: L'Harmattan, Les Presses de l'Universite Laval, 1998. AUMLA: Journal of the Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association, 93: 125-127.
Le detour par l'autre: Sur des representations de "Francais" dans quelques publicites australiennes
Cryle, P. M. (2000) Le detour par l'autre: Sur des representations de "Francais" dans quelques publicites australiennes. Mots: Les Langages du Politique, 64: 39-54.
Cryle, P. M. (2000) Making room for women in pornographic writing of the early nineteenth century: Entre chien et loup, by Felicite de Choiseul-Meuse. Monash Romance Studies, 6: Women Seeking Expression: 11-23.
The structure of division: Objectivity and myth in Roger Martin du Gard's Les 'Thibault'
Cryle, P. (2000) The structure of division: Objectivity and myth in Roger Martin du Gard's Les 'Thibault'. French Studies, 54 3: 396-397. doi:10.1093/fs/54.3.396
Works of the flesh: Thematic study of erotic literature
Cryle, P. (2000) Works of the flesh: Thematic study of erotic literature. AUMLA: Journal of The Australasian Universities Language And Literature Association, 93: 125-127.
Etat present de la critique sadienne
Cryle, P. M. (1999) Etat present de la critique sadienne. Dix-Huitieme Siecle, 31: 507-524.
Cryle, P. (1998) Breaking the furniture in erotic narrative: Towards a history of desire (18th and 19th century French literature). French Studies, 52 4: 409-424. doi:10.1093/fs/52.4.409
Cryle, P. (1998) Locating popular culture. Australian Journal of French Studies, 35 1: 20-31.
Cryle, P. (1998) The substance of desire: Towards a thematic history of the aphrodisiac in nineteenth-century French fiction. Nottingham French Studies, 37 1: 27-49.
Cryle, Peter (2004). Le savoir-lire libertin. In: Jean-Francois Perrin and Philip Stewart, Du Genre Libertin Au Xviiie Siècle: Actes Du Colloque International La Littérature 'Libertine' au XVIIIe Siècle : Existe-t-il un Genre Libertin ?. La Litterature 'Libertine' au XVIIIe Siecle: Existe-t-il un Genre Libertin?, Grenoble, France, (29-38). 26-28 September 2002.
Detouring via the other: Representations of Frenchness in some Australian advertisements
Cryle, P. M. (2001). Detouring via the other: Representations of Frenchness in some Australian advertisements. In: D. Killick, M. Parry and A. Phipps, Poetics and Praxis of Languages and Intercultural Communication. Mapping the Territory, Leeds/Leeds Metropoligan University, (235-243). December 1999.
Cryle, P. M. (2006) Aphrodisiacs in G. Brulotte and J. Phillips (eds.) Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature. New York: Routledge
Cryle, P. M. (2006) Choiseul-Meuse, Felicite de in Gaetan Brulotte and John Phillips (eds.) Encyclopedia of erotic literature. New York: Routledge
Cryle, P. M. (2006) Mannoury d'Ectot, Marquise de in G. Brulotte and J. Phillips (eds.) Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature. New York: Routledge
A Critical Genealogy of Normality
(2010–2015) ARC Discovery Projects
Frigidity in France: the history of a sexual pathology and of its place in feminist critique
(2005–2007) ARC Discovery Projects
(2001) ARC Australian Research Council (Large grants)
Marketing "Frenchness" in Australia
(1999) ARC Australian Research Council (Small grants)
A study of xenophobic and xenophilic representations in French and Australian public discourse
(1996–1997) Quality Funds Round 3
Representations of sexuality and gender in nineteenth century French narrative
(1995) ARC Australian Research Council (Large grants)
Mimesis: mimesis
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Child sexual abuse perpetrated by women: a genealogical approach to the constitution of an unthinkable crime
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Fluid boundaries: Hypnotism as science in late nineteenth-century France
(2016) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
The Marquis de Sade's Philosophical 'System' in its Enlightenment Context
(2015) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Literary canonicity and postcolonial writings: the discursive problematic of emerging fields.
(2013) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Utterances and uptakes: accounts of speech as action and the description of discursive events
(2010) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
ROUSSEAU'S RHETORIC OF HAPPINESS IN JULIE, OU LA NOUVELLE HELOISE
(2007) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
REPRESENTATION OF FRANCE AND FRENCHNESS: FROM THE MEDIA TO TEACHING PRACTICE
(2004) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
SECULARISING THE VEIL: A STUDY OF LEGAL AND CULTURAL ISSUES ARISING FROM THE WEARING OF THE ISLAMIC HEADSCARF IN THE AFFAIR DU FOULARD IN FRANCE
(2004) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
IN THE MARGINS OF LITERATURE: FRENCH 'EXISTENTIALIST' FICTION, FRENCH LITERARY HISTORY AND LITERARY MODERNISM
(2002) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Casanova's Celebrity: a Case Study of Well-knownness in 18th-century Europe
(2015) Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Male Rape and the Government of Bodies: An Unatural History of the Present
(2005) Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
GENDER AND GENRE: FRENCH WOMEN'S DIARIES FROM THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES
(2002) Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor