Erotic Islands: Art and Activism in the Queer Caribbean [Hardcover]

InErotic Islands, Lyndon K. Gill maps a long queer presence at a crossroads of the Caribbean. This transdisciplinary book foregrounds the queer histories of Carnival, calypso, and HIV/AIDS in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. At its heart is an extension of Audre Lorde's use of the erotic as theory and methodology. Gill turns to lesbian/gay artistry and activism to insist on eros as an intertwined political-sensual-spiritual lens through which to see self and society more clearly. This analysis juxtaposes revered musician Calypso Rose, renowned mas man Peter Minshall, and resilient HIV/AIDS organization Friends For Life.Erotic Islandstraverses black studies, queer studies, and anthropology toward an emergent black queer diaspora studies.

Lyndon K. Gill foregrounds a queer presence in foundational elements of Trinidad and Tobago's national imaginary—Carnival masquerade design, Calypso musicianship, and queer HIV/AIDS activism—to show how same-sex desire provides the means for the nation's queer population to develop survival and community building strategies.

Lyndon K. Gill is Associate Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

“This is a brave, important, and engaging work that breaks new ground while beautifully honoring intellectual and aesthetic traditions. Lyndon K. Gill's scholarship pushes well beyond the current boundaries of anthropology—exploring how erotic subjectivity shapes our expanding cartography of the queer Caribbean, at the cutting edge of black studies, queer studies, and diaspora studies.”

“Bringing together anthropologically inflected inquiry and insightful engagement with contemporary theoretical debates in queer theory, art history, and in race, diaspora, and gender studies, Lyndon K. Gill makes an extremely important contribution to our understanding of the contemporary Caribbean. Gill'slCl