Tropical Cowboys: Westerns, Violence, and Masculinity in Kinshasa

by Charles Didier Gondola

Book Overview

During the 1950s and 60s in the Congo city of Kinshasa, there emerged young urban male gangs known as "Bills" or "Yankees." Modeling themselves on the images of the iconic American cowboy from Hollywood film, the "Bills" sought to negotiate lives lived under oppressive economic, social, and political conditions. They developed their own style, subculture, and slang and as Ch. Didier Gondola shows, engaged in a quest for manhood through bodybuilding,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0253020778
• ISBN13: 9780253020772
• Release Date: April 2016
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 8.9"