Religious fetishism, commodity fetishism and sexual fetishism: transpositions and connections
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/2179-0892.ra.2014.87763Keywords:
Religious fetishism, commodity fetishism, sexual fetishism, critique.Abstract
The concepts of sexual fetishism and commodity fetishism are roundabout transformations of a prior concept: religious fetishism. This article tries to account for this conceptual transmutation and for the effects the establishment of this new categories of fetishism had over their precursor. It additionally aims to outline connections among all three fetishisms and to examine the manifold uses of the idea(s) of fetish throughout the 20th century. We will focus on the continuities between the Enlightenment’s denouncement of “religious illusion” and the modern human sciences critical attitude. We will also point out a few theoretical attempts to unite all fetishisms, be it via the analysis of characteristics common to all objects tagged as “fetishes”, be it via the idea of a general, unqualified fetishism that unites the religious, sexual and capitalistic versions.
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