Displaying Exotic Otherness: Does the Space Matter?

Q2 Social Sciences

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics Pub Date : 2022-12-01 DOI:10.2478/jef-2022-0020

Ilze Boldāne-Zeļenkova

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Abstract At the turn of the 20th century, exotic shows as a form of displaying otherness gained wide popularity among various kinds of mass entertainment in Europe and the United States. Promoted professionally, the shows attracted public interest, combining the acquisition of knowledge with leisure. The freaks and people of non-European descent exhibited in different public spaces – zoos, parks, circus – not only demonstrated ‘nature’s errors’ and the diversity of human beings, but also the development of the human body and society within the framework of racial and evolutionary theories. The socio-economic and cultural context of each host country added that country’s own meaning to the messages of the shows. Exotic shows staged in the Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire inhabited by Latvians created a situation in which entertainment invented by modern colonialism took place in a territory directly affected by colonialism. Providing an insight into these shows, emphasizing exotic otherness mainly in Riga, the article seeks answers to the questions of who the audience was for these shows, and what kind of power relations, if any, between “living specimens” and spectators, and among spectators, one can deduce from the performance venue.

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展示异国他乡：空间重要吗？

摘要20世纪之交，异国情调的表演作为一种展示另类的形式在欧美的各种大众娱乐中广受欢迎。在专业的推广下，这些节目吸引了公众的兴趣，将知识的获取与休闲相结合。在动物园、公园、马戏团等不同公共场所展出的怪胎和非欧洲人不仅展示了“大自然的错误”和人类的多样性，还展示了人类身体和社会在种族和进化理论框架内的发展。每个主办国的社会经济和文化背景为节目的信息增添了该国自身的意义。在拉脱维亚人居住的俄罗斯帝国波罗的海各省上演的异国表演创造了一种由现代殖民主义发明的娱乐活动发生在直接受殖民主义影响的领土上的局面。文章深入了解了这些演出，强调了主要在里加的异国他乡，并试图回答这些演出的观众是谁，以及“活标本”和观众之间以及观众之间的权力关系（如果有的话），人们可以从表演场地推断出。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics Social Sciences-Cultural Studies

CiteScore

0.70

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics (JEF) is a multidisciplinary forum for scholars. Addressed to an international scholarly audience, JEF is open to contributions from researchers all over the world. JEF publishes articles in the research areas of ethnology, folkloristics, museology, cultural and social anthropology. It includes both studies focused on the empirical analysis of particular cases as well as those that are more theoretically oriented.