Erotic Cartographies: Decolonization and the Queer Caribbean Imagination

Erotic Cartographies explores how Trinidadian same-sex-loving women use gender performance,erotic autonomy,and space-making practices to reinforce and resist colonial ascriptions on subject bodies. It uses subjective mapping,a participatory data collection technique,to demonstrate how women strategically embody their sexual identities to challenge imposed subject categories and contest their invisibility and exclusion from discourses of belonging. The book focuses on the false binary of public-private,the practices of home and family,and religious nationalism and spiritual self-seeking,to demonstrate the womens challenges to the structural,symbolic,and interpersonal violence of colonial discourses and practices related to gender,knowledge,and power in Trinidadian society.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 276 pages
Publication date: 14 January 2022
Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Erotic Cartographies employs a subjective mapping approach, a participatory data collection technique, to showcase how Trinidadian same-sex-loving women utilize their gender performance, erotic autonomy, and spatial practices to challenge and resist colonial ascriptions on their subject bodies. These women strategically embody their sexual identities to defy imposed subject categories, contest their invisibility and exclusion from discourses of belonging, and disrupt the dominant narratives that perpetuate their marginalization.

Erotic Cartographies involves the exploration of self-knowing and self-expression through cognitive mapping exercises, both in the imagination and on paper. It delves into the processes of giving meaning to space and the transformation of spatial experiences. By incorporating the women's quotes and maps, the book highlights their challenges to the false binary of public and private, the practices of home and family, and the ideologies of religious nationalism and spiritual self-seeking. These challenges are rooted in the structural, symbolic, and interpersonal violence perpetuated by colonial discourses and practices related to gender, knowledge, and power in Trinidadian society.

Through the use of subjective mapping and a feminist lens, Erotic Cartographies sheds light on the experiences of Trinidadian same-sex-loving women and their resistance against colonialism. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing and challenging oppressive structures and ideologies that perpetuate gender inequality and marginalization. By centering the voices and experiences of these women, the book contributes to a broader understanding of the complexities of gender, sexuality, and colonialism in the Caribbean region and beyond.

Weight: 384g
Dimension: 154 x 230 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781978821361