This dynamic study of the history of the idea of race traces the concept from its prehistory across 400 years to its current status. Brian Niro introduces key theorists and philosophers and a wide variety of literary and theoretical concepts, taking...
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ZBW - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft, Standort Kiel
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This dynamic study of the history of the idea of race traces the concept from its prehistory across 400 years to its current status. Brian Niro introduces key theorists and philosophers and a wide variety of literary and theoretical concepts, taking the central view that the notion of race is a fluid concept that has altered consistently since its inception in Western ideology. Starting with Greek philosophy, Niro moves effortlessly through such diverse writers as Shakespeare, Voltaire, Kant, Mary Shelly, Darwin, Fanon and Achebe in order to explore the representation of race in its various guises. Many contemporary discussions of race are intricate and limited in their scope to current doctrine, but by using a series of close readings of often-studied texts, Niro helps to demonstrate key ideas and make complex theories understandable
Publisher:
Bloomsbury Academic, London
;
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
This dynamic study of the history of the idea of race traces the concept from its prehistory across 400 years to its current status. Brian Niro introduces key theorists and philosophers and a wide variety of literary and theoretical concepts, taking...
more
This dynamic study of the history of the idea of race traces the concept from its prehistory across 400 years to its current status. Brian Niro introduces key theorists and philosophers and a wide variety of literary and theoretical concepts, taking the central view that the notion of race is a fluid concept that has altered consistently since its inception in Western ideology. Starting with Greek philosophy, Niro moves effortlessly through such diverse writers as Shakespeare, Voltaire, Kant, Mary Shelly, Darwin, Fanon and Achebe in order to explore the representation of race in its various guises. Many contemporary discussions of race are intricate and limited in their scope to current doctrine, but by using a series of close readings of often-studied texts, Niro helps to demonstrate key ideas and make complex theories understandable
Includes bibliographical references (pages 188-197) and index
General Editor's Preface Acknowledgements Introduction PART ONE: FALSE ORIGINS: THE GREEKS, METHODOLOGY, ETYMOLOGY AND SHAKESPEARE Theory, Practice and Origins The Greeks: Plato and Aristotle Methodology and Travel Writing Etymology and Shakespeare Transition PART TWO: THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND THE FABRICATION OF RACE The Enlightenment: Fabrication of Race Defoe and Racial Malleability Frankenstein's Imperial Paranoia Transition PART THREE: SCIENTIFIC AUTHORITY AND APPROPRIATION Charles Darwin Counter-narratives, Degeneration and Eugenics Kipling's Duality and Degenerative Subversion Transition PART FOUR: MODERNITY, ORIENTALISM, NEGRITUDE AND THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF RACE Modernism as Movement Toward the Postcolonial Orientalism Negritude Encounters with Racism: Achebe, Conrad and Kane Transition PART FIVE: AMERICA Placing Race: The One Drop Rule The Harlem Renaissance and Passing: Black Art and the Disappearing Trope of Race Cane and Passing The Impossibility of an American Race Transition: Conclusion, Introduction and Return Annotated Bibliography Bibliography Index.
