Racial Fetishism - Det Fynske Kunstakademi

Notes
I
2
J
4
-s
6
7
I
9
l0
1I
Hanno Beck, 'The geographyof Alcxander von Humboldr', in Wolfgrng-Hagen Hein
(e<1.1,
Alexanderuon Htntboltlt: Life anti \\rork, rrans.John Cumnring (Ingelheimam
Rhein, C. H. BoelrringerSohn, 1987) (Gernranoriginal 198-5),pp. ZZl, ZZ7.
Oscar RodriguezOrriz (ed.),Iutigenestle Htniltoklt (Caracas,Monte Avila, l9g3), p.
10.
Rohert van Dusen, 'The lirerary ambitions and achievernentsof Alexander von
Hunrboldt', European lJnirersitl Pofers (Betn, Herbert Lang, l97I), p.45.
Alexander von Hunboldt, Views of M?tlre, trans. E.C. Otte and Henry G. Bohn
(London. Herry G. Bohn, 1850), p. .3.
lbid., pp. 7-8.
Quoted in Alexamlcr lon Hunrboltlt: Leltan rntl \L,arAcrr,
ed. Volfgrng_HagerrHein
( l n g e l h e i uar m R h e i n ,C . H . B o c h r i n g eSr o h n , 1 9 8 5 ) ,t r a n s . . f o l r nC u r r r r n i n (g1 9 g 7 ) ,p .
56.
Humlroldt. \/lcrs o/ Natrrrr, p. ix.
lhid., p. 154.
lhid.. p. ix.
chrisroplrercoluurbus.Lerterof March 14, 1493. in Forr l/ortrgcsto thc Nctu \yorlti:
Letters Luul SelectedDocturcnls, ed. arrd trans. R. H. lvtajor (Neu,york, Corinth
B o o k s ,1 9 6 1 ) ,p p . 4 - 5 .
Quored lry .lohn Brenknranin Crrlnrre ttntl Dontinatiot (lrhacr, Cornell Llniversity
P r e s s1
, 9 8 8 ) ,p . 5 4 .
racialfetishrsm:
Reading
of RobertMapplethorpe
the photographs
Kobena Mercer
lmaging the black man's sex
This chapter,
publishedin
originBlly
1986.astaken kom
Kobena Mercer.
Welconreto the
,ungie (London,
Routledge,1994),
pA 174-219
434
A L E X A N D E R V O N H U M B O T D T A I I D T H E R E I N V E N T I O NO T A M E R I C A
[. . .l Mapplethorpe first made his name in the world of art photography
witlr his portraits of patrons and protagonists in the post-\lgarhol New
Y o r k a v a n t - g a r d em i l i e u o f t h e 1 9 7 0 s .I n t u r n h e h a s b e c o m e s o m e t h i n g o f
a star himself, as tlre discourse of journalists. critics, ctlrators and collectot's
has woven a mystique around his persona, creating a public image of the
a r t i s t a s a u t h o r o f ' p r i n t s o f d a r k n e s s ' . rA s h e h a s e x t e n d e d h i s r e p e r t o i r e
across flowers, bodies and faces, the conservatism of Mapplethorpe's
aesthetic has become all too apparent: a reworking of the old modernist
t a c t i c o f ' s h o c k t h e b o u r g e o i s i e ' ( a n dm a k e t h e m p a y ) , g i v e n a n e w a u r a b y
his characteristic signature, the pursuit of perfection in photographic
technique. The vaguely transgressivequality of his subiect matter - gay
S / M r i t u a l , l a d y b o d y b u i l d e r s ,b l a c k m e n - i s g i v e n h e i g l r t e n e da l l u r e b y h i s
e v i d e n t r n a s t e r yo f p h o t o g r a p h i c t e c h n o l o g y .
I n a s m u c h a s t h e i m a g e - n r a k i n gt e c h n o l o g yo f t h e c a m e r a i s b a s e do n
t h e m e c h a n i c a l r e p r o d u c t i o n o f u n i l i n e a r p e r s p e c t i v e ,p h o t o g r a p h s p r i 'look'. I
t h e r e f o r ew a n t t o t a l k a b o u t M a p p l e t h o r p e ' s
m a r l y r e p r e s e n ta
B l a c h M a l e s n o t a s t h e p r o d u c t o f t h e p e r s o n a li n t e n t i n n s o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l
b e h i n d t h e l e n s , b u t a s a c u l t u r a l a r t i f a c t t h a t s a y ss o m e t h i n g a b o u t c e r t a i n
'look'
at black peopleand how. irr this wav of
ways in which white people
l o o k i n g , b l a c k m a l e s e x u a l i t y i s p e r c e i v e da s s o m e t h i n gd i f f e r e r r t ,e x c e s s i v e ,
Other.r Certainly this palticular work must be set in tlre context of
M a p p l e t l ' r o r p e ' so e u v r e a s a w h o l e : t h r o u g h l t i s c o o l a n d d e a d l y g a z e e a c l - r
found object -'flowers, S/M, blacks'-'- is brought trnder the clinical
435
p r e c i s i o r lo f h i s m a s t e rv i s i o n , h i s c o m p l e t e c o n t r o l
o f p h o t o - t e c h n i q * e ,a n c l
thus aestheticized to the abject statris of thinghood. However,
on.. *.
consider the author of theseimages as no ,nor.. than
,projection,
the
in
ternls n'ore or less psychological, of our way of handling t.*ti',.
tl.r.n Jl.,.t
rs inrerestlng about work such as The Black Boo& is the way
rhe text
facilitatesrhe imagi'ary projectio. of certain racial and sexr.rai
fanrasies
a b o u t t h e b l a c k m a l e b o d y . w h a t e v e r h i s p e r s o n a lm o t i v a t i o n s
or creative
p r e t e n s i o n sM
, a p p l e t h o r p e , sc a n r e r a - e y eo p e n s a n a p e l . t l l r e
o n t o a s p e c t so f
stereotypes - a 6xed way of seeing that freezes the flux of .*p.ri.,l..
_
which govern rhe circulation of irlages of black men across
a range of
s n r f a c e sf r o n r n e w s p a p e r s ,t e l e v i s i o ' a r d c i n e n r a t o a c l v e r t i s i ' g ,
,pori.,r.l
pomography.
A p p r o r r c h e da s a t e x t n a l s y s t e n - rb, o t h B l a c k M a l e s ( 1 9 g 3 ) a n d
Tbe
B l a c k . B o o k . ( 1 9 8 6 ) c a t a l o g u ea s e r i e so f p e r s p e c t i v e s v, a n r a g e p o i n t s
and
'takes'
o' the black male body. The firsi thiirg to norice - so obvious
it
g o e s w i t h o ' t s a y r n g- i s r h a t a l l t h e m e n a r e n u d e . E a c h o f r h e
camera,s
por.rts of vrew lead to a unitary var-risrringpoinr: an erotic/aesthetic
objectification of black niale bodies into the idearizecr for'r of
a homogenous
type thoroughly saturated with a torality of sex'al precricates.
Vie rook
t h r o u g h a s e q u e n c eo f i n d i v i d u a l , p e r s o n a l l y n a r n e d , A f r o _ A m e r i c a n
men,
b ' t w h a t w e s a e i s o n l y t h e i r s e x a s t h e e s s e n t i a ls . m t o t a l o f t h e
meanings
signified around blackness and maleness. It is as if, accorcling
io
Mappl.ethorpe's line of sigl-rt: Blacl< + Male = Erotic/Aestheric
Ob'jecr.
Regardless of the sexual preferences of the spectator, the
connotation is
'
that the 'essenceo
f black male identity lies l. the clomain of sexuality.
\(/hereas the photographs of gay male SiM rituals invoke
a sLrbcultural
sexnality that consisrs of tloi,g something, brack nlen are
confinecl and
de6ned in their very being as sexual and nothing but
sexual, hence
hype_rsexual.In picrures like .Man in a polyesrer iuit,, apart
from his
h a n d s , i t i s t h e p e n i s a n d t h e p e n i s a l o n e t h a t i d e n t i f i e st h e
moclel in rhe
pictr"lreas a black n.ran.
This ontological reduction is accomplished through the specific
visr.ral
.
codesbrought to bear on the constructionof pictorial space.
S c u l p t e da n d
shaped through the convenrions of the fine art nucle, the image of
the black
male body presents the spectator witrr a sou'ce of eiotic plea"sure
in the act
of looking. As a generic code establishecl across 6ne art traclitions
in
W e s t e r n . a r r h i s t o r y , r h e c o n v e n t i o n a l s r - r b j e cot f t h e n u d e
is the (white)
female body. Substituting the socially inferior black male
subiec,
M a p p l e t h o ' p e n e v e r t h e l e s sd r a w s o n t h e c o d e s o f t h e g e r . r r er o
frame rris
w a y o f s e e i n gL r l a c l <
m a l e b o d i e s a s a b s t r a c , b e a u t i f u l t h i n g s , ( s e ef i g u r e s
- 1 1 ' 1 ' . 1 1 . 3a n d 3 1 . 4 ) ' T h e a e s r h e t i c a
, n d t l r r . r se ' o t i c , o b f e c t i 6 c a t i J ni s
t o t a l i z i n g i n e f f e c t , a s a l l r e , f e r e n c e sr o a s o c i a l , h i s t o r . i c a l
or political
c o n r e x r a r e r u l e d o r . r to f r h e f r a r n e . T h i s v r s u a l c o d i 6 c a t i o n
abstricts ancl
e s s e n t i a l i z e st h e b l a c k m a n ' s b o d y i n t o t h e r e a l m o f a
transcenclental
a e s t h e t i ci d e a l . I ' t h i s s e n s e ,r h e t e x r r e v e a l sm o r e a b o ' t
t h e c l e s i r e so f t l r e
hidden and visible white male s'bject berrind rrie camer-a,ar.rcr
what .rre,
w a n t s - t o - s e et,h a n i t d o e s a b o u t t h e a n o u y m o u s b l a c k . r e ' w l . r o s e
beautifLrl
b o d i e s w e s e ed e p i c t e d .
436
R E A D I I , I GR A C I A L F E T I S H I S M
V i t h i n t h e d o r n i n a n t t r a d i t i o n o f t h e f e r . n a l en u d e , p a t r i a r c h a l p o w e r
r e l a t i o n s a r e s y r n b o l i z e db y t h e b i n a r y r e l a t i o n i n w h i c h , t o p u t i t c r u d e l y ,
m e n a s s u m et h e a c t i v e r o l e o f t h e l o o k i n g s u b j e c tl v h i l e w o m e n a r e p a s s i v e
o b j e c t s t o b e l o o k e d a t . L a u r a M r - r l v e y ' sc o n t r i b u t i o n t o f e n r i n i s t f i h n
t l r e o r y r e v e a l e d t h e n o n n a t i v e p o w e r a n d _p r i v i l e g e o f t l . r em a l e g a z e i n
r he image of the female nude
d o r n i n a n t s y s t e n - rosf v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . T
c a n t h u s b e u n d e r s t o o d n o t s o m n c l r e s a r e p r e s e n t a t i o no f ( h e t e r o ) s e x u i r l
d e s i r : e ,b u t a s a f o r m o f o b j e c t i f i c a t i o nw l t i c h a r t i c u l a t e s m a s c r . r l i n eh e g e r . r r o n ya n d d o r n i n a n c e o v e r t h e v e r y z r p p a r a t u so f l e p r e s e n t a t r o n i t s e l f .
P a i n t i n g s a b o u r . r dw i t h s e l f - s e r v i n gs c e n a r i o so f p h a l l o c e n t r i c f a n t a s y i r . r
w h i c h r n a l e a r : t i s t sp a i n t t h e m s e l v e sp a i n t i n g n a k e d w o m e r r , w h i c h , l i k e
d e p i c t i o n o f f e m i n i n e n a r c i s s i s m ,c o n s t l u c t s a m i r r o r i m a g e o f w l r a t t h e
m a l e s r , r b j e cw
t a n t s - t o - s e e .T h e f e t i s h i s t i cl o g i c o f n r r m e r i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n .
w h i c h m a k e s p r e s e n tf o r t h e s r - r b j e cwt h a t i s a b s e n ti n t h e r e a l , c a n t h u s b e
c h a r a c t e n z e d i n t e r m s o f a m a s c u l i n ef a n t a s y o f m a s t e r y a n d c o n t l o l o v e r
t h e ' o b j e c t s ' d e p i c t e d a n d r e p r e s e n t e di n t h e v i s u a l f i e l d , t h e f a n t a s v o f a n
o r n n i p o t e n t e y e l l w h o s e e sb u t w h o i s n e v e r s e e n .
In Mapplethorpe's case, however, the fact that both subject and
object of the gaze are male setsup a tension between the active role o[
l o o k i n g a n d t h e p a s s i v e r o l e o f b e i n g l o o k e d a t . T h i s f i s s o r ro f ( l r o n r o ) s e x n a l s a m e n e s st r a n s f e r se r o t i c i n v e s f m e n ti n t h e f a n t a s y o f m a s t e r y f r o m
g e n d e r t o r a c i a l d i f f e r e n c e .T r a c e s o f t h i s m e t a p l - r o r i c arlr a n s f e r u n d e r l i n e
t h e h i g h l y c h a r g e d l i b i d i n a l i n v e s t m e n to f M a p p l e t h o r p e ' s g a z e a s i t b e a r s
d o w n o n t h e m o s t v i s i b l e s i g n i f i e r o f r a c i a l d i f f e r e n c e- b l a c k s k i n . I n h i s
a n a l y s i s o f t h e m a l e p i n u p , R i c h a r d D y e r ( 1 9 8 2 ) s u g g e s t st h a t w h e n m a l e
'feminized' position
of being looked at. the
s r . r b j e c ta
s s s l r m et h e p a s s i v e ,
t h r e a t o r r i s k t o t r a d i t i o n a l d e f i n i t i o n so f m a s c u l i n i t yi s c o u n t e r a c t e db y t h e
r o l e o f c e r t a i n c o d e s a n d c o n v e n t i o n s ,s u c h a s t a u g h t , r i g i d o r s t r a i n i n g
b o d i l y p o s t u r e , c h a r a c t e r t y p e s a n d n a r r a t i v i z e dp l o t s , a l l o f w h i c h a i r r t o
stabilize the gender-based dichotomy of seeing/being seen.6 Here,
M a p p l e t h o r p e a p p r o p r i a t e s e l e m e n t so f c o m m o n p l a c e r a c i a l s t e l ' e o t y p e s
i n o r d e r t o r e g n l a t e ,o r g a n i z e ,p r o p u p a n d f r t h e p r o c e s so f e r o t i c / a e s t h e t i c
o b i e c t i G c a t i o ni n w h i c h t h e b l a c k m a n ' s f l e s h b e c o m e sb u r d e n e d w i t l i t h e
f a n t a s i e sa n d d e s i r e so f t h e w h i r e g a y
task of symbolizingthe transgressive
m a l e s u b j e c t . T h e g l o s s y , s h i n i n g , f e t i s l - r i z e ds u r f a c e o f b l a c k s k i n t h u s
s e r v e sa n d s e r v i c e sa w h i t e m a l e d e s i r et o l o o k a n d t o e n j o y t h e f a n t a s y o f
m a s t e r y p r e c i s e l yt h r o u g l i t h e s c o p i c i n t e n s i r yt l r a t t h e p i c t u r e s s o l i c i t .
'an
important feature of colonial
As Homi Bhabha has suggested.
d i s c o u r s e i s i t s d e p e n d e n c e _ o nt h e c o n c e p t o f " f i x i t y " i n t h e i d e o l o g i c a l
c o n s t l t l c t i o r l o f o t h e r n e s s ' . ' M a s s - n r e d i as t e l e o t y p e s o f b l a c k m e n - a s
c r i m i n a l s . a t h l e t e s ,e n t e r t a i n e r s- b e a r w i t n e s s t o t h e c o n t e n r p o l a r ) ,r e p e t i t i o r r o f s u c h c o l o t t i a l f o t t t a s t , ,i r r t h a t t l . r e r i g i d a n d l i m i t e d g r i d o f r e p r e s e n t a t i o n st h r o u g l r w h i c h b l a c k n r a l e s u b j e c t s b e c o m e p u b l i c l y v i s i b l e
cor.rtintresto reproduce certain iddes fres, ideological fictions rrnd psycliic
'otherness'
it is
fixations, about the nature of black sexuality and the
c o n s t r u c t e d t o e m b o d y . A s a n a r t i s t , M a p p l e t h o r p e e n g i n e e r sa f a n t a s y o f
a b s o l u t e a u t h o r i t y o v e r t h e i m a g e o f t h e b l a c l <m a l e b o d y b y a p p r o p r i a t i n g
t h e f u n c t i o n o f t h e s t e r e o t y p et o s t a b i l i z et h e e r o t i c o b t e c t i f i c a t i o no f r a c i a l
KOBEIIAMERCER
otherness and thereby affirm lis own identiry
as the sovereign I/eye
e m p o w e . e d w r t h m a s r e r yo v e r r l l e a b l e c t t l r i n g h o o d
of the otrrer,is if the
plctures implied, Eye have the power ,o t,rin
yo.,, base ancl worthless
c r e a t u r e ,r n t o a w o r k o f a r t . L i k e M e d u s a ' s l o o k ,
e a c h c a n r e r aa n g l e a n c l
phorog'aphic shor turns brack nrale flesh to sto'e,
hxecr
rror.'' ii ,p"..
a u d t l n r e : e n s l a v e d a s a n i c o n r n t r r e r e p r e s e n t a t i o r a r"ncr
space of the white
n r a l e i n r a g i u a r y ,l r i s r o r : i c a l l ya t t h e c e n t r e o f c o l o n i a l
fantasy.
T h e r e a r e t w o i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t so f f e t i s h i z a t i o n
at play here. The
e r a s u r eo f a n y s o c i t r li n t e r f e r e n c ei n c h e s p e c t a t o r ' s
erotic enloyure'r of the
r r n a g en o r o n l y r e i f i e s b o d i e s b u t e f f a c e sr h e r l a t e r i a l
p r o c e s si n v o l v e d i n
the production of rhe i.rage, thus nrasking trie social
r e r : r r i o r r so f r r r c i a l
power enrailed by the rrnequal and potentially
exploitative
b e t w e e n .t h e w e l l - k n o w r r , i r r t r r o r - n a ' r e i a r t i s r a n c l
gl
t i r e u n k n o w"'*, . h i"rnt e
l._
changeable.black nrodels. In the same way thar
l
a
b
o
r
.
i
s
said to be
'alienated'
i ' c o ^ r m o d i t y f e t i s h i s m ,s o , . r e t h i n gs i n r i r a r r s p . t
lnto operatioll
in the way tlrat the proper name of each dlack
moclel is taken from a
pelson and grven to a thing, as.thetitle or caption
o f t h e p h o r o g r - . f f . , ,. n
art obje* which rs properry of tlie artist, t1.,.o*n.,
a,.,clautiror oitlr. took.
Arrd as itenrs of exchange-value, Mapplethorpe prints
fetch exorbitant
puces on the internationalnrarket in ar photoe.aDhv.
The fantasn.raticemplra.siso,n nl^rrary also"underpins
tlre specifically
s e x u a l f e t i s h i z a t i o no f t h e o t h e r t h a t i s e v i d e n t i .
the visual isoraiioneffect
wl.rerebyit is o'ly evet one black man who appears
in the 6eld of vision at
As an irnprinr of a. narcissistic, ego-centred, sexualizirrg
::].-:.1.-,:iit:
r a n r a s y 't h r s l s a c r u c i a l c o m p o . e n t i n t h e p r o c e s s
oferotic objectiFcation]
not only becauseit forecrosesthe possible iepresentation
of a colrective oi
c o n t e x r u a l i z e db l a c k m a l e b o d y , b u t b e c a u i e t h e
solo frame is ,f* p*condition for a voyeuristic fa'tasy of r,rnmediated
ancl 'nilateral conrrol
over rhe other, which is the function it perfor:rns precisely
in gay and
straight por:nograpliy. Aestheticizrd as a rrap for'the
gaze, pr"."iai"g
which the appetite of the irnperiai eye nray fJed,
each imagi
-on
tl|]'l'll
t t r u s n o u n s h e s t h e r a c i a l i z e da n d s e x r . r a l i z e fda n r a s y
of appropriating tiie
Other's body as virgin rerritory to be perretrate.l
on,l porr.rr.; b;a,i ;li_
p o r v e r f u l d e s i r . e , ' t op r o b e a n d e x p l o r e a n a l i e n
body,.
superinrposi.g two ways of seeing - the n'cle whrcrr
eroticizes trle act
. .
o f l o o k i n g , a n d t h e s r e r e o t y p ew h i c h i m p o s e s 6 x i r y _
we see in Mapple_
t h o r p e ' s g a z e . . ar e i n s c r i p t i o r io f t h e f u n d a r n e . t a r
a t n b i u a r e t t c eo f c o l o ' i a l
ranrasy' oscrtarrng berween sexual idealization
of the racial other an
a n x i e t y i n d e f e n c eo f t h e i d e n t i r y o f t h e w h i t e
male ego. Stuart Hall (19g2)
has underli'ed this splitting irr trre 'imperiar
eye' b]- s'ggesti'g trrat for
every threarening inage of the black subyeci
as a marauding native,
m e n a c i n g s a v a g e o r r e b e l l i o u ss l a v e , t h e r e i s t h e
comfortirg i".";";i,l;
black as docile servant, amusing clow' ar.rclh"ppy
enter"tai".;t 4",-';_
rre'ting on this bifurcation in racial..p..r.nr"tionr,
H
a i l c r e s c r i b e si r a s
t h e e x p r e s s i o no f ' b o t h a n o s t a l g i a f o r a n i n n o c e n c e
l o s t f o r e v e r .t o t h e
civilized'and the tlireatofcivirization ['rei'g
o v e r - r u . o r u n c l e r u r i ' e db y t r r e
r e c u r r e n c eo f s a v a g e r y ,r , r h i c hr s a l w a y s l r u k i n g j u s t
b e l o w t h e s u r f a c e ;o r .
b ) ' a n . n r ' r o r e d s e x r a l i t y t h r e a t e n i n gt o , b r e a ' k ' o u t , . ' , ,
In Mapplethoipe,
lve ma)' discern rhree discretecanreracodes rhr.ough
which this furrtla_
nrental ambivale'ce is rei'scribed rrr'ouglr rhe process
of a sexrral and
r : a c i a lf a n t : r s yw h i c h a e s t h e t r c i z _tehse s t e r e o t y p ei n t o
a work of ar.t.
T h e f i r s t o f t ' e s e . w h i c h i s n r o s rs e r f - c o n s c i o u s rayc k r r o r v r e d g e c r .
co.rcr
be
t h e s c u l p t u r a ! c o d e , a s i t i s a s n b s e to f t h e g e n e r i c 6 n e
:1flg.d
art .trcre.
A s P h i l l i p . p ' e t e n d s t o t r r n tt l i e s r r o t , t h e i d e a l i z e c lp r i y s i q u e
or ,, .rurrr.loi
G r e e k n r a l e .s t a t u e i s s u p e r i m p o s e do ' t h a t n r o s t c o r n r l o ' p r a c e
of stereotypes, the Lrlack nran as spofts hero, mythologically
endowecl rvirh a
'naturally'
n r n s c n l a rp h y s i q u e a n d a n _ e s s e n t i acla f a c i t y f o r . r . . n g t h .
g,:"..
a n d n r a c h i n e l i k ep e r f e c t i o . : . w e l l h a r d . A s m a 1 o , . p . [ r l i c
a r . e n a , - s p o , _ ' ,n, ,
k e y s i r e o f w h i t e m a l e a ' r l r i v r r l e r c e , f e a r" a n . 1 f a , i t a s y .
T h e s p e c t a c l eo f
b l a c k b o d i e s t r i . . r p l r a n t i n r i r ' a r s o f m a s c u r i r r ec o r n p e t i t i o n
r e i n f o r c e st h e
f i x e d i d e a t l ' r a t b l a c l t . ] e n a r e ' a l l b r a r , , , na n c l n o b r a i n s ' ,
a ' c r y , e t .b e c a u s e
the lvhite ntan is bearenat his own gante _ football,
boxing, cricket,
a t h l e t i c s- t h e O t h e r i s i d o l i z e d . t o t h e p o i n t o f e n v 1 , .T h i s
s c h i s r r i i sp l a y e j
o . t . d a i l y i n t h e p o p u l a r t a b r o i d p r e s s .o n t l r e f r o n t p a g e
h e a c l r i n e st r r a c k
nrales beconre highly visible as a threat to white
society, as rrugsers,
' a p r s t s , t e r r o r i s t s a n d g i r e r r i l l a s :t h e i r b o d i e sb e c o n r et h e
i'rago of. ,;;;g;
a n d . u n s r o p p a . b l ec a p a c i t y f o r d e s t r u c t i o n a n c l v i o l e n c e .
Birt turn to the
back pages, the sports pages, a'cl the lrlack 'ran,s body
rs lrerorzed rr.ci
I i o n i z e d ;a n y h i n t o f a n t a g o n i s m i s c o ' t a i n e c rb y r h e p a t e r r . r a r i s t i c
infantilization of Fra.k Bruno a'd Darey Tho.rpso'to
the status of national
m a s c o r sa n d a d o p t e d p e t s - t h e y ' r e r r o t O t l r e r , t h e y ' r e
O I ( b e c a u s et h e y , r e
'our
boys'. The national shame of Engra.ds'dernise ancr crefeat
in Test
cricket at the ha.ds of trre west rndies is accompanied
by the slavisrr
.West
a d m i r a t i o n o f V i v R i c l r a r d s ' sa w e s o r n ep h y s i q u e _ ' t h e
higli-spe..l
I n d i a n b a t s m a n i s b o t h a t h r e a t a n d a r v i n n e r .T h e a m b i v a l i n . .
.ut, d..p
into the recessof tlre white r.'ale inraginary - recail trrose
r.rewsreelim,rges
o f H i t l e r ' s r e l u * a n t h a n d s h a k ew i t h
J e s s eo r v e n s a r t h e 1 9 3 d o r y m p i c l .
If Mapplethorpe'sgazeis .romentarily lost in admiration,
it reasserts
co'trol.by also'fe'rinizing'the black male body into passive,
a
decorative
o b j e . td . ' a n . , \ / l t e n P h i l l i p i s p l a c e d o n a p e c l e s r ahi e l i t e r a l l y
b..o_., puttf
in the hands of tlie white nrale arrist - like others in
t r r i s c o c l e ,h i , ! o i ;
b e c o m e sr a w m a t e r i a l , n r e r e p l a s t i c n t a t t e r , t o b e r n o l d e c l ,
,.r,lpt"d ^n.l
s h a p e d i n t o t h e a e s t h e t i c i d e a l i s r no f i n e r t a b s t r a c t i o n ,
as we see in the
p i c t u r e o f D e r r i k C r o s s ( s e ef i g u r e 1 3 . 3 ) : w i t h t h e r i l r
of tlie pelvis, rhe
black rlan's bunr becomes a Brancusi. conrme'ring
on the criffe.ences
between moving atrd motionless pictures, Christian
Metz suggests an
a s s o c i a r i o nl.i n k i n g , p h o t o g r a p h y , s i l e n c ea n d d e a t h , , p h o , o g r . p i r i
inuok.
a r e s i d u a l d e a t l r e f f e c t s ' c h t h a t , ' t h e p e r s _ ow
n h o l r a s b e e n p r r . ' o t o g r a p h ei ds
dead
d e a d f o r l r a v i n g b e e n s e e n . ' l t U n d e r r h e i n r e r r s e, . . u i i n y
of
M a p p l e t h o r p e ' s c o o l , d e t a c l r e dg a z e i t i s i r s i f e a c r rl r r a c k
m o c l e li s , r r . i e t o
d i e , i f o n l y r o r e i n c a r n a r e t h e i r a r i e n a t e de s s e n c e
a s i c r e a r i z - e care, s t h e t i c
objects. we are not invited to inragine whar their
lives, histories or
e x p e r i e n c e sa r e - l i k e ,a s r h e y a r e s i l e n c e da s s u l r j e c t si n
their.own right, ancl
t n a s e r s e s a c r i f i c e do n t h e p e d e s t : ror f a n a e s t l r e t i ci d e a l
in order to af6r.nr
t l r e o n r n i p o t e n c eo f t h e n l a s t e r s r b i e c r , w l r o s eg a z e
h a s t h e p o , u v e r . olfr g h r
and death.
A E A D I t . I GR A C I A L F E T I S H I S M
I i O E E I J AM E R C E R
In counterpoint there is a suppleurentaly code of portraiture which
'hunranizes'
t h e h a r : d p h a l l i c l i n e s o f p u r e a b s t r a c t i o n a n d f o c u s e so n t l r e
'window
face - the
o f t l r e s o u l ' - t o r n t r o d u c e a n e l e m e n t o f r e a l i s r ni r r t o
t b e s c e n e .B u t a n y c o n n o r a r i o n o f h u n r a n i s t e x p r e s s i o n i s d e n i e d b y t h e
d i r e c t l o o k w h r c h d o e s n o t s o r n u c h a s s e r tt h e e x i s t e n c eo f a n a u t o n o m o u s
s u b j e c t i v i t y , l r u t l a t h e r , l i k e t h e r e m o t e , a l o o f , e x p r e s s i o n so f f a s h i o r r
models rn glossy magazines, emphasizes instead maximum distance
between the spectatol and the nnattainable object of desire. Look, but
d o n ' t r o u c h . T h e m o d e l s ' d i r e c t l o o k t o c a m e r a d o e s n o t c h a l l e n g et h e g a z e
o f t l r e w h i t e m a l e a r t r s t , a l t h o u g h i t p l a y s o n t h e a c t i v e / p a s s i v et e n s i o n o f
seeing/lrerng seen, because any porential dismption is conrained by tlie
subtextnal work of the stereotype. Thus in one portrait the 'primitive'
nature of the Negro is invoked by the pr:ofile: the face becomes an
afterimage of a stereotypically 'African' tribal nrask, high cheekbones and
nratted dreadlocks further connote wildness, danger, exotica. In another,
the chiseled contorlrs of a shaved lread, honed by rivulets of sweat,
snl-nnlon up the criminal mug shot from the forensic 6les of police
photography. This also recalls the anthropomerric uses of photography in
the colonial scene, measuring the craniun of the colonized so as to show,
by the documentary evidence of photography, the inherent'inferiority' of
the Other.r2 This is overlaid with deeper ambivalence in the portrait of
Terrel, whose grotesque grimace calls up the happy/sad mask of the nigger
rrinstrel: humanized by racial pathos, the Sambo stereotype haunts the
scene, evoking the black man's supposedly ctrildlike dependency on ole
Massa, which in turn fixes his social, legal and existential 'emasculation' at
the hands of the white nrasrer.
Finally, two codes together - of cropping and lighting - interpenetrate the flesh and mortify it into a racial sex fetish, a julu doll from
the dark side of the white man's imaginary. The body-wlrole is fragmented
i n t o m i c r o s c o p i c d e t a i l s - c l r e s t ,a r m s , t o r s o , b u r t o c k s , p e n i s - i n v i t i n g a
scopophilic dissection of the parts that make Lrp the whole. Indeed, like a
talismirn, each part is invested with dre power to evoke the 'mystique' of
black nrale sexuality with more perfection than any empirically unified
whole. The camera cuts away, like a knife, allowing the spectator to
i n s p e c t t l ' r e ' g o o d s ' . I n s u c h f e t i s h i s t i ca t t e n t i o n t o d e t a i l , t i n y s c a r s a n d
blemishes on the surface of black skin serve only to heighten the technical
perfectionisrn of the photographic print. The cropping and fragmentarion
of bodies - often decapitated, so to speak - is a salient feature of pornog r a p h y , a n d h a s b e e n s e e nf r o m c e r t a i n f e m i n i s t p o s i t i o n s a s a f o r m o f m a l e
v i o l e n c e ,a l i t e r a l i n s c r i p t i o n o f a s a d i s t i ci m p u l s e i n t h e m a l e g a z e , w h o s e
p l e a s u r e t h u s c o n s i s t so f c u t t i n g u p w o l n e n ' s b o d i e s i n t o v i s u a l l r i t s a n d
pieces. Whether or not this view is tenable,ls tl-reeffect of the technique
here is to suggestaggressionin the act of looking, lrut not as racial violence
or racism-as-hate;on the contrary, aggression as tlle frustration of rhe ego
w h o f i n d s t h e o b j e c t o f h i s d e s i r eo u t o I r e a c h , i r r a c c e s s i b l eT.h e c r o p p i n g i s
analogous to striptease in t[-rissense, as the exposr.lte of successive body
parts distances the erotogenic object, making it unrouchable so as ro
t a n t a l i z e t h e d r i v e t o l o o k , w h i c h r e a c h e si t s a i n r i n t h e d e n o u e m e n r l r y
440
figure 31.1
Sobert
Mapphthoryq
Jmmy
Freeman, t982 fihe
Estateof Robert
Mapplethorpe)
tigure 31.2
fiooetI
Mdtlplethorpe,
RoedeiA4iddleton,
F i g u r e3 1 . 3
Robert
Mapplelllorpe,
1986(TheEstaieof
Detrik Cross, 1983
Robert
(The Estaieof Robeil
Mapplethot)€)
Mapplethorpe)
(adroqlalddPn
uaqog Jo alPlsl
aql) 9861 'seLuoLll
'ailaqtaldden
jlaqou
t lE arn6tl
which the woman's sex is unveiled.Except here the unveiling that reduces
the woman from angelto whore is sr-rbsritr-rred
by rhe unconcealingof rhe
parts,
penis
private
with
the
as
the
forbidden
totem of colonial
man's
black
fantasy.
As each fragmentseducesthe eye into ever more intensefascination,
we glimpsethe dilation of a libidinalway of looking rhat spreadsitselfacross
the surfaceof black skin. Harsh contrastsof shadowand light draw the eye
to focus and fix aftentionon rhe textureof the black man's skin. According
to Bhabha, unlike the sexual fetish per se, whose meaningsare usually
hidden as a hermeneuticsecret,skin color functionsas'the most uisibleof
it is devalorizedin the signifyingchain of 'negrophobia'
fetishes'.ra.Whether
'negrophilia',the fetish of
or hypervalorizedas a desirableattribute in
skin
color in the codesof racial discourseconstitutesthe most visible elementin
'the ethnicsignifier'.1-s
The shining
the articulationof what StuartHall calls
severalfr-rnctions
in its representation:
ir sLrggests
surfaceof blackskin serves
the physicalexertionof powerful bodies,as black boxersalwaysglistenlike
bronzein the illuminatedsqlrareof the boxing ring; or, in pornography,it
intensesexualactivity'just before'the photographwas taken, a
slrggests
metonymic stimulus to arolrsespectatorialparticipation in the imagined
mise-en-scine.In Mapplethorpe'spicturesthe specularbrilliance of black
skin is bound in a double articlrlationas a fixing agent for the fetishistic
slippagebetweenrepresenter
structlrreof the photographs.Thereis ir sr-rbtle
polished,
as
the
shiny,
sheen
of black skin becomes
and represented,
consubstantialwith the luxurious allure of the high-quality photographic
print. As Victor Burgin has remarked,sexualfetishismdovetailswith commodity fetishismto inflare the economicvalue of the print in art photography as much as in fashionphotography,the 'glossies'.16
Here, black skin
and print surfaceare bound rogetherto enhancethe pleasureof the white
spectator as much as the profitability of these art-world commodities
exchangedamong the artist and his dealers,collectorsand curators.
In everydaydiscoursefetishismprobably connotesdeviant or 'kinky'
sexuality,and calls up imagesof leatherand rubberwearas signsof sexual
perversity. This is not a fortuitous example, as leather fashion harsa
'secondskin'. \fhen one considersthat such
sensuousappealas a kind of
clothes are invariably black, rather than any other color, such fashionfetishismsuggestsa desireto simulateor imitate black skin. On the other
hand, Freud'stheorizationof fetishismas a clinical phenomenonof sexntrl
pathology and perversionis problematic in many ways, br,rtthe central
notion of the fetish as a metaphoricalsubstitutefor the absent phallus
enabies understandingof the psychic structure of disavowal, and the
splitting of levelsof consciousand unconsciousbelief, that is relevantto
the ambiguousaxis upon which negrophiliaand negrophobiaintertwine.
t...1
We have been looking at some pictures to talk about a cer[ain way in
'looking'
at black people involves a racial fetishistn.
which white peoples'
The question of ambivalence underscored by Malpplethorpe's recuperi.rtion
of commonplace stereotypeswithin a restagingof the classicalmale nude
concerns the strange and r-rnchartedlandscrrpeof the Western imrrginrrry,
444
READING RACIAL FETISHISM
-
,il
rlnd more specifically, the political unconsciours of white masculinity.
However, in the clrrrent context, where the interventions of black feminists
hrrve prioritized issuesirf the interface of race, gender and sexuality, a ne,az
wave of blurck cr"rlturalpractitioners are setting out to r,rntangleolrr own
ambivillencesand to explore the diversity of sexual desiresand identiries
within biack communities. Refusing to think of ourselves as Otl-rer, snch
artists as Joan Riley and Jackie Kay in literature: Maureen Blackwood anci
Martina Attille of Sankofa Collective in filmmaking; visu;,rlartists shown in
Lr,rbainaHimid's Tbin Black Line exhrbition art the ICA in 1985, have all
engagedquestionsof sex and race in representationin challenging ways.lT
Yet these initiatives have so far found little critical and theoretical support
in debatesabout sexual representation.
In a conjuncture where progressive intellectual alliances among
feminists, advocates of sexual politics, and critical theory in film and media
str-rdieshave gained momentum in the academic world, the subject of r:rce
is still a strlrctlrred absencefrom both public debate and course curricula.
'What
worries me is the way a certain kind of psychoanalysis has come to
'malster
discor"rrse'in this sitlrirtion, yet the ethnocentrism
function as a
of clzrssicalFreudian theory remains unquestioned. While the concept of
fetishism is suggestive precisely becar-rseit connects the economic and
sexual contraflow of ideological investments, it is also problematic, for its
roots in Er,rropeanthought lie in the colonizing discourses of missionaries
'primitive
religions'.18Moreover, the occh,rsionof
and anthropologists on
race in rhe 1970s theorization of sexual difference is by the sllme token the
instance of its heterosexism as well as its Eurocentrism. The Greek tragedy
'castraof Oedipus, as the grand narrative upon which desire-as-lack or
tion' is based, is culture-bound despite the universalistic claims staked out
for it. Other cultures may be patriarchal, but does that mean they produce
an Oedipal sexuality?
The feminist appropriation of Lacanian psychoanalysis to theorize
cultural struggles over the image has been profoundly enabling, but
'race'
questions now being raised by cultural strugglesover the meaning of
slrggest that universalist pretensions can be disenabling, for they preempt
the development of pluralist perspectiveson the intersections of multiple
dif{erences in popular culture. \fith regard to the psychoanalytic theory of
'it
has helped me . . (but) I have also used
fetishism, Metz confessesthat
the theory of fetishism as a fetish.'1e If psychoanalysis continues to offer
'the
insight into cultural practices such as photography because it is
founding myth of our emotional modernity', then perhaps the unanswered
questions of race may render visible some of the many blind spots that
characterize ollr intellectual posrmodernity. [. . .]
rl
I
Notes
Dick Tr:rcings, Tinte Orrt, 3 November l9[]-1.
Reierencestrre prirnzrrilyto Robert lr.{applethorpe,Black nrlalc-s(Amsterclam, Gallerie
Jurkr, 198.3)(rvith:rn introdr.rcrionby Edurund White;; Robcrt N[applethorpe, lL)70-
446
READING RACIAL FETISHISM
rascLrliniry.
k feminists
liry, a new
e orlr own
I identities
)ther, such
lwood and
s shownin
5, have irll
ng w,rys.lt
:al sr,ipport
res tlmong
and medirr
ect of race
: curricula.
15 COme tO
nocentrism
concept of
romic rrnd
rtic, for its
rissionaries
:clusion of
: token the
:ek tragedy
'castritor
staked out
ey produce
:o theorize
.bling, br.rt
....^-'
-l 5- \^{
/r
r drL
:y preempt
rf multiple
c theory of
e also used
Lesto offer
'the
it is
.nanswered
spots that
.3
4
5
5
7
8
9
10
ll
12
1.i
74
15
16
17
18
l9
19 8 3 ( L o n d o n , I n s t i t u t e o f C o n t e m p o r i r r - vA r t s , 1 9 8 3) ( i n t r o d u c t i o n b v A l l r r n
H o l l i n g h u r s t ) ; r l n d R o b e r t M a p p l e t h o r p e ,T h c B l a c k B o o k ( N I u n i c h , S c h i r m e r / i v l o s e l ,
1985).
Hollinghurst. RoDart Nldpplethorpe, p. 13.
'What is irn rruthor?', LdnSudgc Corutter-nrentory', Practite, ed.
lvlichel Foucrult,
D o n a l d B o u c h a r d ( O x f o r d , B a s i l B l a c k w e l,l 1 9 7 7 J ,p . l Z 7 .
' V i s u t r l p l e a s u r ee n d n a r r r a t i v ec i n e m a ' , S c r e e t t ,1 6 , . 3 ( a u t u m n 1 9 7 5 )
Laurl lVlulvev
I e x r r a c t e di n C h a p r e r 2 5 o f t h r s v o l t r m e ] .
'Don't
, creen,23,3-4, Sept/Oct.
l o o k n o r v - t h e m i r l e p i n - r . r p 'S
Richard Dver (1982)
also the art hisroricll perspective offered in Mlrglret Walters, The Nude NIale
( L o n d o n , P r d d i n g t o n P r e s s ,[ 9 7 8 ) .
'The
Horni K. Bhabhl,
o r h e r q u e s t i o n :t h e s t e r e o t v p ea n d c o l o n i a l d i s c o u r s e ' ,S c l e a r z ,
2 4 , 4 ( 1 9 8 3 ) , p p . l 8 - - 3 5 [ e x t r a c t e di n C h a p t e r 2 4 o f t h i s v o l u m e ] .
Edmund White, in lVlapplethorpe, Black Malcs, p. v.
' T h e w h i t e s o f t h e i r e y e s : r a c i s t i d e o l o g i e sr n d t h e r n e d i i r ' , i n G e o r g e
Sruart Hell,
Bridges :rnd Rosrlind Brunt (eds), Siluer L.inings: Sonr Strategies for the Eighties
L o n d o n , L a w r e n c ea r r d W i s h a r t , 1 9 8 1 ) .
Ibid., p. 41.
C l r r i s t i a n M e t z , ' P h o t o g r a p h v r n d f e t i s h ' ,O c t o b e r , 3 4 ( f a l l 1 9 8 5 ) , p . 8 5 .
'Classified
A n t h r o p o m e t r i c u s e s o f p h o t o g r a p h y a r e d i s c u s s e di n D a v i d G r e e n ,
'Veins
o f r e s e m b l a n c ee: u g e n i c sa n d p h o t o g r a p l - r y 'i,n
strhjects'T
, en.S, l4 (1984); rnd
Photogrttpbl,/Politics: Truo, eds P. Holland,.f . Sperrceilnd S. Wrtney (London, Photog r r p h y W o r k s h o p / C o r l e d i a , 1 9 8 6 ) ;a n d w i t h r : e f e r e n cteo p h o t o g r e p h y a s s u r v e i l l a n c e ,
'Power
'The
and photography',
d o r n a i n o f t h e s e x u : r l ' ,e n d J o h n T a g g ,
in Frank Mort,
Screen Eductttir.ur,-12 (ar.rtumn1980).
'Sexual violence and sexuality', Fentinist Reuietu, l1 (sumrner
Rosrlind Cownrd,
1982), pp. 17-22.
' T h e o t h e r q u e s t i o n ' ,p . i 0 .
Bhabha,
'Pluralism, race and class in Caribbean socier.r,',in Race ,md Clttssin PostStuart Hall,
Colonial Socrel1,(New York, UNESCO).
'Photography,
f a n t a s y ,f r c t i o n ' ,S c r e e n , 2 1 , 1 ( s p r i n g 1 9 8 0 ) , p . 5 ' + .
Victor Burgin,
SeeJoan Rrley, The Unbelonging (London, The STomen'sPress, 1985); and poetry by
Jackie Kay in Fentinist Reuietu, lS (1984), tnd A Dangerous Knotuing (London, Sheba
F e m i n i s t P u b l i s h e r s ,1 9 8 5 ) . R e l a t e d i s s u e sa r e r a i s e d b y M a r t i n a A t i l l e a n d M a u r e e n
Blackwood,'Black Wornen and representation', in Charlotte Brundson (ed.J, Filnts ior
Wonten (London, British Film Institute,1986).
'Fetishism and ideology', For tt Critique of the Political Economy
SeeJean Baudrillard,
o f t h e S i g n ( S t L o u i s , T e l o s P r e s s ,1 9 8 1| 9 7 7 \ ) . A n i m p o r t a n t g e n e a l o g y o f t h e c o n c e p t
'The problem
of the fetish', parts 1, 2 and .i,
of fetishism is provided by I[illiam Pietz,
(
in Res, 9 (spring 1985), pp. 5-17; 13 spring, 1987), pp. 23-45; and 16 (autumn
1988)p
, p.105-123.
' P h o t o g r a p h ya n d f e t i s h ' ,p . 8 9 .
Metz,
clam, Gallerie
horpa, 1970-
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