A Cultural History of Race in Antiquity

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Denise McCoskey, editor.

Series:

The Cultural Histories Series

The Cultural Histories Series v1.

Language:

Undetermined

Subjects (All):

History--Ancient.

History.

Race.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 219 pages)

Place of Publication:

London: Bloomsbury Publishing. 2021

System Details:

text file HTML/PDF

Summary:

The era generally referred to as antiquity lasted for thousands of years and was characterized by a diverse range of peoples and cultural systems. This volume explores some of the specific ways race was defined and mobilized by different groups-including the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Persians, and Ethiopians- as they came into contact with one another during this period. Key to this inquiry is the examination of institutions, such as religion and politics, and forms of knowledge, such as science, that circumscribed the formation of ancient racial identities and helped determine their meanings and consequences. Drawing on a range of ancient evidence-literature, historical writing, documentary evidence, and ancient art and archaeology-this volume highlights both the complexity of ancient racial ideas and the often violent and asymmetrical power structures embedded in ancient racial representations and practices like war and the enslavement of other persons. The study of race in antiquity has long been clouded by modern assumptions, so this volume also seeks to outline a better method for apprehending race on its own terms in the ancient world, including its relationship to other forms of identity, such as ethnicity and gender, while also seeking to identify and debunk some of the racist methods and biases that have been promulgated by classical historians themselves over the last few centuries.

Contents:

Introduction

1. Definitions and Representations of Race (Sarah Derbew)

2. Race, Environment, Culture (Joseph Skinner)

3. Race and Religion (Denise Kimber Buell)

4. Race and Science (David Kaufman)

5. Race and Politics (Grant Parker)

6. Race and Ethnicity (Naoise Mac Sweeney)

7. Race and Gender (Shelley P. Haley)

8. Race and Sexuality, Racecraft in the Odyssey (Jackie Murray)

9. Anti-Race (Dan-el Padilla Peralta)

Bibliography

Contributors

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references

ISBN:

9781350067417

OCLC:

1353242779

Publisher Number:

10.5040/9781350067417

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.