“Transnational Decolonial Aesthetics”: The “Hottentot Venus” Re-Configured
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Cecile Sandten
Abstract
The concept of ‘transnational literature’ has been discussed in various cultural, national, and historical academic contexts. Drawing on the notion of “transnational decolonial aesthetics” proposed by the Transnational Decolonial Institute, in my chapter I will propose a theoretical and methodological approach that will examine the notion of the black female body as a transnational phenomenon that has elicited a wide range of representations in a variety of texts, contexts, and time periods. With “decolonial thinking and doing” and “epistemic disobedience” (Walter Mignolo) as subversive and counter-hegemonic writing strategies, I will offer a decolonial reading of the historical narrative of Sarah Baartman as the “Hottentot Venus” in early nineteenth- century England and France in conjunction with Suzan-Lori Parks’ dramatic rewrite Venus (1997); the art installation “Sa Main Charmante” (1989) by Reneé Green; the “Hommage à Sarah Bartman,” a live performance by Teresa María Díaz Nerio (2007; 2012); and the live performance “The Painful Cake” (2012) by Afro-Swedish queer artist Makode Aj Linde. The play and the art works will be explored as transnational literature and artworks, as they critically respond to the misrepresentations of the black female body in (neo)colonial Europe.
Abstract
The concept of ‘transnational literature’ has been discussed in various cultural, national, and historical academic contexts. Drawing on the notion of “transnational decolonial aesthetics” proposed by the Transnational Decolonial Institute, in my chapter I will propose a theoretical and methodological approach that will examine the notion of the black female body as a transnational phenomenon that has elicited a wide range of representations in a variety of texts, contexts, and time periods. With “decolonial thinking and doing” and “epistemic disobedience” (Walter Mignolo) as subversive and counter-hegemonic writing strategies, I will offer a decolonial reading of the historical narrative of Sarah Baartman as the “Hottentot Venus” in early nineteenth- century England and France in conjunction with Suzan-Lori Parks’ dramatic rewrite Venus (1997); the art installation “Sa Main Charmante” (1989) by Reneé Green; the “Hommage à Sarah Bartman,” a live performance by Teresa María Díaz Nerio (2007; 2012); and the live performance “The Painful Cake” (2012) by Afro-Swedish queer artist Makode Aj Linde. The play and the art works will be explored as transnational literature and artworks, as they critically respond to the misrepresentations of the black female body in (neo)colonial Europe.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction: The Concept of the Transnational in Literary Studies 1
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1 The Transnational amongst Related Concepts in Theory and Marketing
- Mixed Attachments in Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana (1971) 21
- Transnational Challenges for World Literatures: Publishing Caribbean Writers 44
- “Transnational Decolonial Aesthetics”: The “Hottentot Venus” Re-Configured 56
- Precariously Transnational: Teju Cole’s Every Day Is for the Thief 76
- The Discursive Construction of Transnational Fiction on Penguin Random House Group Websites 89
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2 Transnational Literary Histories
- Utopia, Limited: Transnational Utopianism and Intercultural Imaginaries of the Ideal 107
- Travel Literature and/as Transnational Theatre History – Beyond National Theatre Cultures 124
- Transnationally Forged Nationality: Le Brésil littéraire and the Writing of Literary History in the Nineteenth Century 142
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3 Poetics and Politics of Transnational Genres
- Historical Horizons: The Historical Novel and Transnational Memory 169
- Re-centring European Geopolitics: Transnational Identities in the Twenty-First- Century Hungarian-Language Novel from Slovakia 189
- Transnational Migrant Fiction as World Literature: Identity, Translatability, and the Global Book Market 206
- Translinguistic Theatre for a Globalised Stage? 226
- Works Cited 239
- Notes on Contributors 259
- Index 263
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction: The Concept of the Transnational in Literary Studies 1
-
1 The Transnational amongst Related Concepts in Theory and Marketing
- Mixed Attachments in Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana (1971) 21
- Transnational Challenges for World Literatures: Publishing Caribbean Writers 44
- “Transnational Decolonial Aesthetics”: The “Hottentot Venus” Re-Configured 56
- Precariously Transnational: Teju Cole’s Every Day Is for the Thief 76
- The Discursive Construction of Transnational Fiction on Penguin Random House Group Websites 89
-
2 Transnational Literary Histories
- Utopia, Limited: Transnational Utopianism and Intercultural Imaginaries of the Ideal 107
- Travel Literature and/as Transnational Theatre History – Beyond National Theatre Cultures 124
- Transnationally Forged Nationality: Le Brésil littéraire and the Writing of Literary History in the Nineteenth Century 142
-
3 Poetics and Politics of Transnational Genres
- Historical Horizons: The Historical Novel and Transnational Memory 169
- Re-centring European Geopolitics: Transnational Identities in the Twenty-First- Century Hungarian-Language Novel from Slovakia 189
- Transnational Migrant Fiction as World Literature: Identity, Translatability, and the Global Book Market 206
- Translinguistic Theatre for a Globalised Stage? 226
- Works Cited 239
- Notes on Contributors 259
- Index 263
