Shades of Difference

Mythologies of Skin Color in Early Modern England

Nonfiction, History, Renaissance, British
Cover of the book Shades of Difference by Sujata Iyengar, University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sujata Iyengar ISBN: 9780812202335
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc. Publication: April 12, 2013
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press Language: English
Author: Sujata Iyengar
ISBN: 9780812202335
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication: April 12, 2013
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press
Language: English

Was there such a thing as a modern notion of race in the English Renaissance, and, if so, was skin color its necessary marker? In fact, early modern texts described human beings of various national origins—including English—as turning white, brown, tawny, black, green, or red for any number of reasons, from the effects of the sun's rays or imbalance of the bodily humors to sexual desire or the application of makeup. It is in this cultural environment that the seventeenth-century London Gazette used the term "black" to describe both dark-skinned African runaways and dark-haired Britons, such as Scots, who are now unquestioningly conceived of as "white."

In Shades of Difference, Sujata Iyengar explores the cultural mythologies of skin color in a period during which colonial expansion and the slave trade introduced Britons to more dark-skinned persons than at any other time in their history. Looking to texts as divergent as sixteenth-century Elizabethan erotic verse, seventeenth-century lyrics, and Restoration prose romances, Iyengar considers the construction of race during the early modern period without oversimplifying the emergence of race as a color-coded classification or a black/white opposition. Rather, "race," embodiment, and skin color are examined in their multiple contexts—historical, geographical, and literary. Iyengar engages works that have not previously been incorporated into discussions of the formation of race, such as Marlowe's "Hero and Leander" and Shakespeare's "Venus and Adonis." By rethinking the emerging early modern connections between the notions of race, skin color, and gender, Shades of Difference furthers an ongoing discussion with originality and impeccable scholarship.

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

Was there such a thing as a modern notion of race in the English Renaissance, and, if so, was skin color its necessary marker? In fact, early modern texts described human beings of various national origins—including English—as turning white, brown, tawny, black, green, or red for any number of reasons, from the effects of the sun's rays or imbalance of the bodily humors to sexual desire or the application of makeup. It is in this cultural environment that the seventeenth-century London Gazette used the term "black" to describe both dark-skinned African runaways and dark-haired Britons, such as Scots, who are now unquestioningly conceived of as "white."

In Shades of Difference, Sujata Iyengar explores the cultural mythologies of skin color in a period during which colonial expansion and the slave trade introduced Britons to more dark-skinned persons than at any other time in their history. Looking to texts as divergent as sixteenth-century Elizabethan erotic verse, seventeenth-century lyrics, and Restoration prose romances, Iyengar considers the construction of race during the early modern period without oversimplifying the emergence of race as a color-coded classification or a black/white opposition. Rather, "race," embodiment, and skin color are examined in their multiple contexts—historical, geographical, and literary. Iyengar engages works that have not previously been incorporated into discussions of the formation of race, such as Marlowe's "Hero and Leander" and Shakespeare's "Venus and Adonis." By rethinking the emerging early modern connections between the notions of race, skin color, and gender, Shades of Difference furthers an ongoing discussion with originality and impeccable scholarship.

More books from University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

Cover of the book Her Life Historical by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book Colonial Complexions by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book Tax and Spend by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book From Eden to Eternity by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book When Counterinsurgency Wins by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book The Benevolent Deity by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book The Disaster Experts by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book Messengers of the Right by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book Porta Palazzo by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book Confessions of Faith in Early Modern England by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book In the Crossfire by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book The Last Crusade in the West by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book Front Lines by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book How to Accept German Reparations by Sujata Iyengar
Cover of the book Democracy Disrupted by Sujata Iyengar
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