Fur Nation: From the Beaver to Brigitte Bardot (Writing Corporealities)
Editorial Reviews Book Description
Fur Nation traces the interwoven relationships between sexuality, national identity, and colonialism. Chantal Nadeau shows how Canada, a white settler colony, bases its existence and its nationhood on a complex sexual economy based on women wrapped in fur.
Nadeau traces the centrality of fur through a series of intriguing case studies, including:
* Hollywood's take on the 330 year history of the Hudson Bay Company, founded to exploit Canada's rich fur resources
* the life of a postwar fur fashion photographer
* a 1950s musical called My Fur Lady
* the battle between Brigitte Bardot's anti-fur activists and the fur industry.
Nadeau highlights the connection between 'fur ladies' - women wearing, exploiting or promoting furs - and the beaver, symbol of Canada and nature's master builder. She shows how, in postcolonial Canada, the nation is sexualized around female reproduction and fur, which is both a crucial factor in economic development, and a powerful symbol through which the nation itself is conceived and commodified. Fur Nation demonstrates that, for Canada, fur really is the fabric of a nation.
About the Author
Chantal Nadeau is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Concordia University. She is the co-author of The Romance of Transgression in Canada: Sexualities, Moving Images, Nations (Minnesota University Press, anticipated in 2002).
--This text refers to the
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Fur Nation: From the Beaver to Brigitte Bardot (Writing Corporealities),Chantal Nadeau,Routledge,0415158737,Beauty & Grooming - General,Canada,Canada - General,Customs & Traditions,Dress And Costume,Fur garments,Fur trade,General,History Of Civilization And Culture (General),Social Science,Sociology,Cultural studies,Fashion & beauty industries,Gender studies
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