Author:
Klaus Benesch Ludwig Maximilians Universität Lehrstuhl für Nordamerikanische Literaturgeschichte, Amerika-Institut Schellingstrasse 3/VG D-80799 München Deutschland

Search for other papers by Klaus Benesch in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access

Abstract  

The essay discusses, in chronological order, three important black texts on race: DuBois’s 1897 speech “The Conservation of Races,” Charles Johnson’s collection of essays Being and Race (1988) and, finally, Paul Gilroy’s critical assessment of postcolonial identity politics in Against Race: Imagining Political Culture Beyond the Color Line (2000). Though in ways significantly differing, all of these texts struggle to undo the limitations of racialized discourse and, in its stead, introduce new forms of theorizing racial differences. Rather than being grounded in biological or even cultural differences, here race appears to be geared to variations of behavior that need to be conceptualized with respect to highly ideological structures of perception. Since postcolonial texts on race usually respond to longstanding assumptions about the nature and role of racial differences in human society, I begin by briefly delineating the history of the race concept as it evolves from late eighteenth through the nineteenth-century seems appropriate.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

To see the editorial board, please visit the website of Springer Nature.

Manuscript Submission: HERE

For subscription options, please visit the website of Springer Nature.

Neohelicon
Language English
Size B5
Year of
Foundation
1973
Volumes
per Year
1
Issues
per Year
2
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's
Address
H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's
Address
H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible
Publisher
Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 0324-4652 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2810 (Online)

Monthly Content Usage

Abstract Views Full Text Views PDF Downloads
Aug 2024 8 0 0
Sep 2024 2 0 0
Oct 2024 45 0 0
Nov 2024 17 0 0
Dec 2024 12 0 0
Jan 2025 14 0 0
Feb 2025 11 0 0