Bloodthirsty Pleasure: An Augustinian Theology of Antiblack Spectacles

One of the reasons Augustine continues to be relevant for political theology today is his extensive and sophisticated reflections on the public. His political letters, sermons, and major works like City of God examine a variety of issues in the public sphere. Augustine’s interest in the public does not arise solely from his political life. Rather as preacher and bishop he examined the ways public rituals and festivals formed the church and the world. He gave language to the libido dominadi and the various ways it emerges. This is especially true in the case of gladiatorial spectacles. Robet A. Markus, Elizabeth Castelli and Jennifer Herdt point out Augustine inherited a polemical stance towards spectacles found in Tertullian and Cyprian of Carthage. Therefore, it is no surprise Confessions and City of God devotes pages of criticism of gladiatorial spectacles. Following these insights my paper takes up this theme in Augustine to examine contemporary spectacles of antiblack violence. 

My paper could be read within two strands of Augustinian theology. First, there are Augustinian political theologians who attempt to take race seriously. Matt Elia’s The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the Afterlife of Slavery is a key example. His work presents an exciting dialogue with black studies within Augustine studies. Likewise, I admire Eric Gregory’s Augustinian reading of Martin Luther King Jr. in Politics & the Order of Love. Yet, unlike Matt Elia, this paper takes antiblack spectacles and racialized libidinal economies as its core emphasis. Second, there are the Augustinian reflections of desire found in Sarah Coakley and Rowan Williams. Both attend to the tyranny of the passions and ascetical theology to understand the souls longing for God. While my work is deeply influenced by these authors, what my paper contributes is an extended reflection of the passions aroused by spectacles of antiblack violence. 

In this paper I offer an Augustinian analysis of lynchings. I argue spectacles of antiblack violence arouse the passion of bloodlust. My paper unfolds as follows. To begin with I engage Rowan Williams’ Augustinian reflections on subjectivity in my introduction. Then I offer a close reading of Book VI of Confessions where Augustine recounts a gladiatorial spectacle and how Alypius is “seized with bloodthirsty pleasure.” The paper then moves towards consideration of spectacles of antiblack violence, taking W.E.B. Du Bois, James Cone, and William Cavanaugh as conversation partners. First, I read Du Bois alongside Ella Myers to unpack Du Bois’ comparison of the lynching to “a roman holiday.” Second, I unpack how James Cone draws on a Foucault to suggest lynching is a spectacle of white supremacist power. This analysis is complimented by dialogue with Saidiya Hartman and Amy Louise Wood who also attend to spectacular forms of antiblack violence. Third, I turn to another figure influenced by Foucault —William Cavanaugh. While Cavanaugh does not examine lynching, the paper turns to Cavanaugh’s Torture and Eucharist and The Uses of Idolatry to describe lynching as an idolatrous liturgy. I make reference to how Cavanaugh builds on Foucault’s analysis of spectacle in Discipline and Punish. Finally, I return to Rowan Williams’ The Passions of the Soul to clarify how spectacles of antiblack violence arouse the passion of lust—more specifically, bloodlust. 

What I aim to achieve in this paper is a mutual dialogue between black studies and Augustinian theology. As mentioned above, while Augustinian theologians refer to the pernicious effects of slavery, such an analysis is rarely sustained or the main focus. For example in his Passions of the Soul, Rowan Williams briefly comments, “we are bound to work at healing the long-term injuries that past violence and injustice have created (the legacies of racism and slave economies are at the moment rightly uppermost in the mind of many in the ‘developed’ world).”  Even as he acknowledges racism, he fails to supply a sustained analysis of why slave economies might arouse the passions. Likewise Cavanaugh’s Uses of Idolatry admirably teases out the links between racism, nationalism, and idolatry, but misses the opportunity to engage black authors thinking through similar questions. Introducing black studies into Augustinian theology can help develop lines of thought often mentioned but seldom explored. At the same time, Augustinian theology can help develop certain themes in black theology. My paper turns to Augustine because doing so enriches Cone’s references to spectacles of antiblack violence and the libidinal flows they create. I find Augustine’s moral psychology and theology of spectacles invaluable for thinking through the theological quandaries Cone raises. Of course, all of this is to illuminate how race functions within the public and the potential ways spectacles of racialized violence malform its spectators. 

My discussion of spectacles of antiblack violence will have significant applications in discussions about race, desire, and the public. Drawing on Augustine, William Cavanaugh and James K.A. Smith argue we are creatures designed to worship. Nevertheless, there are countless ways we are seduced by various forms of idolatry. Commentators such as Jamelle Bouie and Arlie Russell Hochschild argue Trump Rallies are spectacles of racialized violence.  Several voices in black studies are calling for further examination of libidinal economies of antiblack violence. Finally, Keri Day presses theologians to take seriously the erotic life of racism. These concerns are not auxiliary to pollical theology, but central to understanding the role of race in the public sphere. All of this invites an Augustinian theology which recognizes the intimacies of race, libidinal economy and political theology. My paper brings new figures like Du Bois into Augustinian theology. I make new connections in Augustinian theology to provide necessary tools for our racialized world. I illuminate how Augustine’s account of spectacles and the libido dominadi continue to yield new insights today. All of this opens up an exciting lacuna which pushes Augustinian theology forward.