Displayed on European stages from 1810 to 1815 as the Hottentot Venus; Sara Baartman was one of the most famous women of her day; and also one of the least known. As the Hottentot Venus; she was seen by Westerners as alluring and primitive; a reflection of their fears and suppressed desires. But who was Sara Baartman? Who was the woman who became the Hottentot Venus? Based on research and interviews that span three continents; Sara Baartman and the Hottentot Venus tells the entwined histories of an illusive life and a famous icon. In doing so; the book raises questions about the possibilities and limits of biography for understanding those who live between and among different cultures. In reconstructing Baartman's life; the book traverses the South African frontier and its genocidal violence; cosmopolitan Cape Town; the ending of the slave trade; the Industrial Revolution; the French Revolution; the Napoleonic Wars; London and Parisian high society; and the rise of racial science. The authors discuss the ramifications of discovering that when Baartman went to London; she was older than originally assumed; and they explore the enduring impact of the Hottentot Venus on ideas about women; race; and sexuality. The book concludes with the politics involved in returning Baartman's remains to her home country; and connects Baartman's story to her descendants in nineteenth- and twentieth-century South Africa. Sara Baartman and the Hottentot Venus offers the authoritative account of one woman's life and reinstates her to the full complexity of her history.
#1440566 in Books Princeton University Press 2007-10-28Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .59 x 5.98l; .85 #File Name: 0691134669264 pages
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