Untangling blackness in Greek antiquity / Sarah F. Derbew.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Derbew, Sarah F., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art, Greek.

Black people in art.

Black people in literature.

Race in art.

Race in literature.

Greece--Civilization--To 146 B.C.

Greece.

Civilization.

Physical Description:

xvii, 253 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps, plans ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Summary:

"How should articulations of blackness from the fifth century BCE to the twenty-first century be properly read and interpreted? This important and timely new book is the first concerted treatment of black skin color in the Greek literature and visual culture of antiquity. In charting representations in the Hellenic world of black Egyptians, Aithiopians, Indians, and Greeks, Sarah Derbew dexterously disentangles the complex and varied ways in which blackness has been co-produced by ancient authors and artists; their readers, audiences, and viewers; and contemporary scholars. Exploring the precarious hold that race has on skin coloration, the author uncovers the many silences, suppressions, and misappropriations of blackness within modern studies of Greek antiquity. Shaped by performance studies and critical race theory alike, her book maps out an authoritative archaeology of blackness that reappraises its significance. It offers a committedly anti-racist approach to depictions of black people while rejecting simplistic conflations or explanations." -- Publisher's description

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction: The Metatheater of Blackness

2. Masks of Blackness: Reading the Iconography of Black People in Ancient Greece

3. Masks of Difference in Aeschylus's Suppliants

4. Beyond Blackness: Reorienting Greek Geography

5. From Greek Scythians to Black Greeks: A Spectrum of Foreignness in Lucian's Satires

6. Black Disguises in an Aithiopian Novel

7. Conclusion: (Re)placing Blackness in Greek Antiquity.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-240) and index.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

1108495281

9781108495288

OCLC:

1292971299