Bodies complexioned : human variation and racism in early modern English culture, c. 1600-1750 / Mark S. Dawson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dawson, Mark S. (Mark Stanley), 1972- author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Racism--Great Britain--History--17th century.

Racism.

Race relations--History.

Race relations.

History.

Great Britain.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 266 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2019.

Summary:

Bodily contrasts - from the colour of hair, eyes and skin to the shape of faces and skeletons - allowed the English of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries to discriminate systematically among themselves and against non-Anglophone groups. Making use of an array of sources, this book examines how early modern English people understood bodily difference. It demonstrates that individuals' distinctive features were considered innate, even as discrete populations were believed to have characteristics in common, and challenges the idea that the humoral theory of bodily composition was incompatible with visceral inequality or racism. While 'race' had not assumed its modern valence, and 'racial' ideologies were still to come, such typecasting nonetheless had mundane, lasting consequences. Grounded in humoral physiology, and Christian universalism notwithstanding, bodily prejudices inflected social stratification, domestic politics, sectarian division and international relations.

Contents:

1 Contemplating Christian temperaments p. 15

2 Nativities established p. 54

3 Bodies emblazoned p. 92

4 Identifying the differently humoured p. 118

5 Distempered skin and the English abroad p. 156

6 National identities, foreign physiognomies, and the advent of whiteness p. 199.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

1526134489

9781526134486

OCLC:

1077789080