Sara Baartman and the Hottentot Venus: A Ghost Story and a Biography
Pamela Scully, Clifton C. Crais, . . Princeton Univ., $29.95 (232pp) ISBN 978-0-691-13580-9
While the body of Sara Baartman (1789–1815), also known as the “Hottentot Venus,” has been the subject of intense Western scrutiny (she was regarded as a “paradoxical freak of race and sexuality, both alluring and primitive”) and exploitation to the point of postmortem dissection, little is known about her life beyond her careers as sideshow exhibit and posthumous icon for a variety of causes, from artifact repatriation to the evils of science. Crais (
Reviewed on: 10/20/2008
Genre: Nonfiction
Other - 978-0-691-23835-7
Paperback - 248 pages - 978-0-691-14796-3