The “Natural” Is a Sham: The Baroque and Its Contemporary Avatars

Authors

  • Mattijs van de Port University of Amsterdam and VU Amsterdam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2218/forum.16.518

Abstract

This article discusses three aesthetics which go against the understanding of “the natural” as the default setting of life and being: baroque, punk and camp celebrate the artificiality and made-upness of man-made worlds. Reflecting on autobiographical encounters with these styles, and using a Lacanian frame of analysis, the author discusses what makes these styles appealing to some and horrific to others, and what they effectuate in the lives of their aficionados.

Author Biography

  • Mattijs van de Port, University of Amsterdam and VU Amsterdam
    Mattijs van de Port is an anthropologist and does research in Bahia, Brazil. He works both at the University of Amsterdam, and the VU University Amsterdam. In the latter institution he holds the chair of “popular religiosity.” His latest book is Ecstatic Encounters. Bahian Candomblé and the Quest for the Really Real (Amsterdam University Press, 2011).

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Published

05-Jun-2013

Issue

No. 16 (2013): Un/Natural Histories

Section

Guest Contributions

License

Creative Commons License
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How to Cite

“The ‘Natural’ Is a Sham: The Baroque and Its Contemporary Avatars”. 2013. FORUM: University of Edinburgh Postgraduate Journal of Culture & The Arts, no. 16 (June): 1-10. https://doi.org/10.2218/forum.16.518.