Staging Blackness and Performing Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century German Drama

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Theatre, Performing Arts, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Staging Blackness and Performing Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century German Drama by Wendy Sutherland, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Wendy Sutherland ISBN: 9781317050858
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: May 15, 2017
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Wendy Sutherland
ISBN: 9781317050858
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: May 15, 2017
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Focusing on eighteenth-century cultural productions, Wendy Sutherland examines how representations of race in philosophy, anthropology, aesthetics, drama, and court painting influenced the construction of a white bourgeois German self. Sutherland positions her work within the framework of the transatlantic slave trade, showing that slavery, colonialism, and the triangular trade between Europe, West Africa, and the Caribbean function as the global stage on which German bourgeois dramas by Friedrich Wilhelm Ziegler, Ernst Lorenz Rathlef, and Theodor Körner (and a novella by Heinrich von Kleist on which Körner's play was based) were performed against a backdrop of philosophical and anthropological influences. Plays had an important role in educating the rising bourgeois class in morality, Sutherland argues, with fathers and daughters offered as exemplary moral figures in contrast to the depraved aristocracy. At the same time, black female protagonists in nontraditional dramas represent the boundaries of physical beauty and marriage eligibility while also complicating ideas of moral beauty embodied in the concept of the beautiful soul. Her book offers convincing evidence that the eighteenth-century German stage grappled with the representation of blackness during the Age of Goethe, even though the German states were neither colonial powers nor direct participants in the slave trade.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Focusing on eighteenth-century cultural productions, Wendy Sutherland examines how representations of race in philosophy, anthropology, aesthetics, drama, and court painting influenced the construction of a white bourgeois German self. Sutherland positions her work within the framework of the transatlantic slave trade, showing that slavery, colonialism, and the triangular trade between Europe, West Africa, and the Caribbean function as the global stage on which German bourgeois dramas by Friedrich Wilhelm Ziegler, Ernst Lorenz Rathlef, and Theodor Körner (and a novella by Heinrich von Kleist on which Körner's play was based) were performed against a backdrop of philosophical and anthropological influences. Plays had an important role in educating the rising bourgeois class in morality, Sutherland argues, with fathers and daughters offered as exemplary moral figures in contrast to the depraved aristocracy. At the same time, black female protagonists in nontraditional dramas represent the boundaries of physical beauty and marriage eligibility while also complicating ideas of moral beauty embodied in the concept of the beautiful soul. Her book offers convincing evidence that the eighteenth-century German stage grappled with the representation of blackness during the Age of Goethe, even though the German states were neither colonial powers nor direct participants in the slave trade.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book New Public Governance by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book The Europa Directory of Literary Awards and Prizes by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book A Student Teacher's Guide to Primary School Placement by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book Age in the Workplace by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book Drought in Bulgaria by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book The Road to Federalism in Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book Education in Small States by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book The State of the World Atlas by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book Mass Killings and Violence in Spain, 1936-1952 by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book Double Jeopardy by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book Social Comprehension and Judgment by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book Menander in Contexts by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book Adjusting to Europe by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book Shakespeare by Wendy Sutherland
Cover of the book Writers and Social Thought in Africa by Wendy Sutherland
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy