The The Dream Denied: Elizabeth Alexander’s Poem “The Venus Hottentot” through A Philanthropic Framework

Raghad Shakir; Bahee Hadaegh

doi:10.63931/ijchr.v7iSI2.230

Authors

Raghad Shakir Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6773-8638
Bahee Hadaegh Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5264-7680

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63931/ijchr.v7iSI2.230

Keywords:

Afro-American Identity, Racial Objectification, Gendered Violence, Philanthropy, Cultural Hegemony

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to reveal discursive ways through which racial objectification, gendered exploitation, and institutional negotiation are intertextually woven in and through Elizabeth Alexander’s (1990) seminal poem The Venus Hottentot via a Philanthropic Framework. In particular, the study examines how poetic strategies deployed by Alexander reappropriate the silenced voice of Saartjie Baartman, a South African woman whose body was publicly exploited in 19th century Europe, and whether elite institutions influenced on the construction and dissemination of Afro-American cultural narratives. Building upon cultural capital (Bourdieu), cultural hegemony (Gramsci), and philanthropic pluralism (Roelofs), the paper contends that despite Alexander's poem’s challenge to hegemonic narratives, its institutional endorsement paradoxically threatens to depoliticize its radical intervention. The poem helps redefine Afro-American agency, feminist poetics, and postcolonial memory all at once, while at the same time pointing out how contemporary philanthropy continues to function as a mediator between cultural production, and thus as a mediator of power. The analysis highlights the conflict between artistic opposition and elite patronage and thus encourages a more politicized attitude towards the politics of institutional distinction in the literary field.

References

[1] Ahmed, S. (2012). On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life. Duke University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822395324

[2] Ahmed, S. (2017). The cultural politics of U.S. immigration: Gender, race, and media. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 41, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1392032 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1392032

[3] Alexander, E. (1990). The Venus Hottentot. Graywolf Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2931555

[4] Bourdieu, P. (1996). The rules of art: Genesis and structure of the literary field. Stanford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503615861

[5] Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Routledge.

[6] Crais, C., & Scully, P. (2009). Sara Baartman and the Hottentot Venus: A ghost story and a biography. Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691238357

[7] Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039

[8] Ebrahim, A. (2019). Measuring social change: Performance and accountability in a complex world. Stanford Business Books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503609211

[9] Gilman, S. L. (1985). Difference and pathology: Stereotypes of sexuality, race, and madness. Cornell University Press.

[10] Giridharadas, A. (2018). Winners take all: The elite charade of changing the world. Knopf.

[11] Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks. International Publishers.

[12] Hammack, P. L., & Pilecki, A. (2012). Narrative as a root for political psychology. Political Psychology, 33(1), 75–99. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2011.00859.x

[13] Hartman, S. (1997). Scenes of subjection: Terror, slavery, and self-making in nineteenth-century America. Oxford University Press.

[14] Holmes, R. (2007). The Hottentot Venus: The life and death of Saartjie Baartman. Random House.

[15] Hooks, B. (1992). Black looks: Race and representation. South End Press.

[16] Hughes, R., & Drake Brown, S. (2021). Collective memory and historical narratives: The African American civil rights movement. History Education Research Journal, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.14324/herj.18.2.03 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/HERJ.18.2.03

[17] McClintock, A. (1995). Imperial leather: Race, gender, and sexuality in the colonial contest. Routledge.

[18] Nelson, A. (2011). Body and soul: The Black Panther Party and the fight against medical discrimination. University of Minnesota Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5749/minnesota/9780816676484.001.0001

[19] Qureshi, S. (2004). Displaying Sara Baartman, the ‘Hottentot Venus’. History of Science, 42(2), 233–257. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/007327530404200204

[20] Ramey, L. (2019). Contemporary African American poetry. In A history of African American poetry (pp. 194–230). Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139548939.005

[21] Roelofs, J. (2003). Foundations and public policy: The mask of pluralism. SUNY Press.

[22] Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. Pantheon Books.

[23] Schiebinger, L. (1993). Nature’s body: Gender in the making of modern science. Beacon Press.

[24] Spillers, H. J. (1987). Mama’s baby, papa is maybe: An American grammar book. Diacritics, 17(2), 65–81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/464747

[25] Trouillot, M.-R. (1995). Silencing the past: Power and the production of history. Beacon Press.

[26] Willis, D., & Williams, C. (2002). The Black female body: A photographic history. Temple University Press.

[27] Yancy, G. (2008). Black bodies, white gazes: The continuing significance of race in America. Rowman & Littlefield.

The The Dream Denied: Elizabeth Alexander’s Poem “The Venus Hottentot” through A Philanthropic Framework

Authors

DOI:

Keywords:

Abstract

References

Downloads

Published

How to Cite

Issue

Section

License

Similar Articles

Make a Submission

Information