In this Book
- The Erotics of History: An Atlantic African Example
- Book
- 2018
- Published by: University of California Press
-
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
summary
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The Erotics of History challenges long-standing notions of sexuality as stable and context-free--as something that individuals discover about themselves. Rather, Donald L. Donham argues that historical circumstance, local social pressure, and the cultural construction of much beyond sex condition the erotic. Donham makes this argument in relation to the centuries-old conversation on the fetish, applied to a highly unusual neighborhood in Atlantic Africa. There, local men, soon to be married to local women, are involved in long-term sexual relationships with European men. On the African side, these couplings are motivated by the pleasures of cosmopolitan connection and foreign commodities. On the other side, Europeans tend to fetishize Africans’ race, while a few search to become slaves in master/ slave relationships. At its most wide ranging, The Erotics of History attempts to show that it is history, both personal and collective, in reversals and reenactments, that finally produces sexual excitement.
The Erotics of History challenges long-standing notions of sexuality as stable and context-free--as something that individuals discover about themselves. Rather, Donald L. Donham argues that historical circumstance, local social pressure, and the cultural construction of much beyond sex condition the erotic. Donham makes this argument in relation to the centuries-old conversation on the fetish, applied to a highly unusual neighborhood in Atlantic Africa. There, local men, soon to be married to local women, are involved in long-term sexual relationships with European men. On the African side, these couplings are motivated by the pleasures of cosmopolitan connection and foreign commodities. On the other side, Europeans tend to fetishize Africans’ race, while a few search to become slaves in master/ slave relationships. At its most wide ranging, The Erotics of History attempts to show that it is history, both personal and collective, in reversals and reenactments, that finally produces sexual excitement.
Table of Contents


- Heading South: An Introduction
- pp. 1-16
- 1. Ethnography Interruptus
- pp. 18-27
- 2. The Concept of the Fetish
- pp. 28-32
- 3. African Origins
- pp. 33-42
- 4. The Poverty of Sexuality
- pp. 43-49
- 7. White Slavery
- pp. 65-77
- 8. Love and Money, Romance and Scam
- pp. 78-82
- Bibliography
- pp. 113-131
Additional Information
ISBN
9780520968875
Related ISBN(s)
9780520296312
MARC Record
OCLC
1028980512
Pages
152
Launched on MUSE
2019-02-24
Language
English
Open Access
Yes
Creative Commons
CC-BY