Hall, Kim F. "Witnessing whiteness in the early modern world." Throughlines. www.throughlines.org/suite-content/witnessing-whiteness-in-the-early-modern-world. [Date accessed].
Witnessing whiteness in the early modern world
Encouraging students to see the work of whiteness so as to make the racism behind these ideas visible too.
Whiteness is not an empty or invisible signifier, and it is something we should be discussing when we talk about race in our classrooms. When we consider the role of Christianity in constructing views of whiteness as pure and good, we can see how racial hierarchies begin to take shape in the early modern period. This plays out in the portraiture of early modern England, and attending to this in our teaching allows us to broach important conversations about race, and whiteness in particular, in literary works like The Tragedy of Mariam, Othello, and Oroonoko.
Kim F. Hall explores the value and importance of discussing the role of whiteness not only within early modern literature and culture, but within her classroom as well.
Further learning
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Recommended
Othello and Othello and Othello
Beginning with the play’s earliest performance, we study Othello from various critical perspectives through close analysis of the play-text and adaptations on film and stage. For several weeks students read the text of the play slowly and closely, paying particular attention to Shakespeare’s use of language, metaphor, genre, and dramatic form.
