Repository logo
  • English
  • Italiano
  • Log In
    Have you forgotten your password?
Repository logo
Repository logo
  • Archive
  • Series/Journals
  • EUT
  • Events
  • Statistics
  • English
  • Italiano
  • Log In
    Have you forgotten your password?
  1. Home
  2. EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste
  3. Periodici
  4. Prospero. Rivista di letterature e culture straniere
  5. 2015 / 20 Prospero. Rivista di letterature e culture straniere
  6. Whose Trauma? Discursive Practices in Saartjie Baartman’s Literary Afterlives
 
  • Details
  • Metrics
Options

Whose Trauma? Discursive Practices in Saartjie Baartman’s Literary Afterlives

Iannaccaro, Giuliana
2015-12-21
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
ISSN
1123-2684
DOI
10.13137/2283-6438/11868
http://hdl.handle.net/10077/11868
  • Article

e-ISSN
2283-6438
Abstract
After a brief contextualization of the figure of Sartjie Baartman – the Khoisan woman displayed in London and Paris at the beginning of the nineteenth century as the “Hottentot Venus” – this contribution addresses the issue of contemporary discursive practices making use of Baartman’s icon. Starting from Thabo Mbeki’s speech at the ‘funeral’ of Saartjie Baartman as an introduction, the article focuses on the analysis of two very different novels, Zoë Wicomb’s "David’s Story" (2000) and Barbara Chase-Riboud’s "Hottentot Venus. A Novel" (2003). Their very dissimilarity can tell us much on the discursive practices concerning Baartman’s figure; yet, the two works permit comparison because they share the same wish to shed light on the relationship between past and present by means of an overall structural complexity. Both novels make use of the postmodern features of a multi-voiced and multi-layered narration, and avoid granting authority to a single version of history. Moreover, both "David’s Story" and "Hottentot Venus" engage in a narrative relating to individual and collective trauma; that is why the article briefly introduces the ongoing discussion focused on the application of Western trauma theories to the South African historical and political situation. The literary investigation provided here takes into consideration the aesthetic aspect of both books; I contend that Chase-Riboud’s narrative is unsatisfactory as a novel, and that its literary weakness diminishes the strength of its socio-political stances.
Series
Prospero. Rivista di letterature e culture straniere
XX (2015)
Publisher
EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste
Source
Giuliana Iannaccaro, "Whose Trauma? Discursive Practices in Saartjie Baartman’s Literary Afterlives" in: "Prospero. Rivista di letterature e culture straniere 20 - Memoria senza perdono. Dinamiche, retoriche e paradossi nelle rappresentazioni letterarie del trauma", a cura di Marilena Parlati, Trieste, EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, 2015, pp. 37-61
Languages
en
File(s)
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Download
Name

Prospero_20_2015_Iannaccaro.pdf

Format

Adobe PDF

Size

285.55 KB

Indexed by

 Info

Open Access Policy

Share/Save

 Contacts

EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste

OpenstarTs

 Link

Wiki OpenAcces

Archivio Ricerca ArTS

Built with DSpace-CRIS software - Extension maintained and optimized by 4Science

  • Cookie settings
  • Privacy policy
  • End User Agreement
  • Send Feedback