Vision, race, and modernity : a visual economy of the Andean image world / Deborah Poole.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Poole, Deborah.

Series:

Princeton studies in culture/power/history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Visual anthropology--Andes Region.

Visual anthropology.

Photography in ethnology--Andes Region--History.

Photography in ethnology.

Indians of South America--Andes Region--Pictorial works--History.

Indians of South America.

History.

Andes Region.

Race--Pictorial works--History.

Race.

Genre:

Pictorial works.

Physical Description:

xiv, 263 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [1997]

Summary:

Through an intensive examination of photographs and engravings from European, Peruvian, and U.S. archives, Deborah Poole explores the role visual images and technologies have played in shaping modern understandings of race. Vision, Race, and Modernity traces the subtle shifts that occurred in European and South American depictions of Andean Indians from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries, and explains how these shifts led to the modern concept of "racial difference." While Andean peoples were always thought of as different by their European describers, it was not until the early nineteenth century that European artists and scientists became interested in developing a unique visual and typological language for describing their physical features. Poole suggests that this "scientific" or "biological" discourse of race cannot be understood outside a modern visual economy. Although the book specifically documents the depictions of Andean peoples, Poole's findings apply to the entire colonized world of the nineteenth century.

Poole presents a wide range of images from operas, scientific expeditions, nationalist projects, and picturesque artists that both effectively elucidate her argument and contribute to an impressive history of photography. Vision, Race, and Modernity is a fascinating attempt to study the changing terrain of racial theory as part of a broader reorganization of vision in European society and culture.

Contents:

Ch. 2 The Inca Operatic 25

Ch. 3 An Economy of Vision 58

Ch. 4 A One-Eyed Gaze 85

Ch. 5 Equivalent Images 107

Ch. 6 The Face of a Nation 142

Ch. 7 The New Indians 168

Ch. 8 Negotiating Modernity 198.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [239]-251) and index.

ISBN:

0691006466

0691006458

OCLC:

35885685