Sex, Skulls, and Citizens: Gender and Racial Science in Argentina (1860-1910) (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780826522726)

PROSE Awards Subject Category Finalist--Biological Anthropology, Ancient History, and Archaeology, 2021
Best Nineteenth-Century Book Award, Latin American Studies Association Nineteenth-Century Section, 2021​

Analyzing a wide variety of late-nineteenth-century sources, Sex, Skulls, and Citizens argues that Argentine scientific projects of the era were not just racial encounters, but were also conditioned by sexual relationships in all their messy, physical reality.

The writers studied here (an eclectic group of scientists, anthropologists, and novelists, including Estanislao Zeballos, Lucio and Eduarda Mansilla, Ram Lista, and Florence Dixie) reflect on Indigenous sexual practices, analyze the advisability and effects of interracial sex, and use the language of desire to narrate encounters with Indigenous peoples as they try to scientifically pinpoint Argentina's racial identity and future potential.

Kerr's reach extends into history of science, literary studies, and history of anthropology, illuminating a scholarly time and place in which the lines betwixt were much blurrier, if they existed at all.

Author: Ashley Elizabeth Kerr
ISBN-10: 0826522726
ISBN-13: 9780826522726
Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
Language: English
Published: 03/15/2020
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.79lbs

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2021