Text As Cultural Antagonist: The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana
2002; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 26; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1177/0196859902026002002
ISSN1552-4612
Autores Tópico(s)Gender Roles and Identity Studies
ResumoThe Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana took part in discourses about sex in the United States in the early 1960s. Initial reactions to it display its political charge and its potential for offering alternatives to traditional sex-related ideologies. A discussion of historical context and close analysis of early commentary and reviews show, in detail, how the Kama Sutra cut against familiar racial, cultural, class, gender, and sexual biases. Chantal Mouffe's political philosophy of radical and plural democracy is used to make sense of these initial responses, laying out the implications of the Kama Sutra as both political antagonist and political enemy. In the process, implications of this analysis for the Kama Sutra's role in U.S. sex discourses, in particular, and the political role that sex literature and other antagonistic discourses play in democratic politics, in general, are discussed.
Referência(s)