Saartjie Baartman
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Sarah "Saartjie" Baartman (1779 – 29 December 1815) (also spelled Bartman, Bartmann, Baartmen) was the most famous of at least two Khoikhoi women who were exhibited as freak show attractions in 19th century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus—"Hottentot" as the then-current name for the Khoi people, now considered an offensive term, and "Venus" in reference to the Roman goddess of love.
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Cultural references
- In his 1847 novel Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray referred to the Hottentot Venus, explaining George's aversion to marrying a woman of color.
- Dame Edith Sitwell referred to her allusively in "Hornpipe", a poem in the satirical collection "Façade".
- Poet Elizabeth Alexander explores her story in a 1987 poem and 1990 book, both entitled The Venus Hottentot.
- Diana Ferrus, a South African poet of Khoisan descent, wrote "A Poem for Sarah Baartman" while studying in Europe. It includes the desire "to wrench [her] away-/ away from the poking eyes... ."
- Poet M.K. Asante, Jr. wrote "Ghetto Booty: The Hottentot Remix" for Saartjie Baartman in his 2005 book Beautiful. And Ugly Too. The poem tells Baartman's story and warns the hip hop generation not to repeat racist cycles of black female exploitation.
- The science fiction author Paul Di Filippo used her story as the basis for the second novel of his Steampunk Trilogy.
- Barbara Chase-Riboud wrote a fictional biography entitled Hottentot Venus.
- Her life features in the 2007 Afrikaans romantic novel Frats by Chris Karsten.
- Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks fictionalizes her story in Venus.
- Playwright Lydia R. Diamond's play "Voyeurs de Venus" also examines her story through the eyes of a 20th-century author.
- In 2006, a feminist artist and filmmaker adopted the name Venus Hottentot to direct an independent film with erotic content called Afrodite Superstar with the intention of reclaiming the strength and voice of Sarah Baartman as a sexually-exploited woman of color.
- Canadian performance artist Mara Verna created a web-based project and travelling exhibition cataloguing her story.
- Novelist Joyce Carol Oates uses the image and the story of the Hottentot Venus in her 2006 novel Black Girl/White Girl.
- The Saartjie Project is a collection of artists and activists using theatrical productions including song, dance, visual arts, spoken word and drama to explore the continued fascination with the black female form; to create dialogue; and to promote healing across communities.
- A movie entitled Hottentot Venus, directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and starring Yahima Torres as Sarah, is projected to have its North American premiere at the 2010 New York Fim Festival.
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See also
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Saartjie Baartman" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
