Emphasizes the power of the comic to transmit early ideology about race Articulates a new theory of proto-racism based in a metaphysical determinism founded in pre-modern philosophy, theology, and moral allegory Offers fresh readings of Harlequin's black mask, as well as of Othello and Antony and Cleopatra

Autorentext
Robert Hornback is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Oglethorpe University, USA. He teaches Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Contemporaries, Medieval & Renaissance Literature, Ancient Literature, and Comedy: Ancient to Renaissance. He is the author of The English Clown Tradition from the Middle Ages to Shakespeare (2009) and has published widely on fools and comedy.

Inhalt
1.Introduction: Recovering the Contexts of Early Modern Proto-Racism.- 2. Harlequin as Theatergram: Transmitting the Time-Worn Black Mask, Ancient to Antebellum.- 3. Beyond Good and Evil Symbolism: Allegories and Metaphysics of Blackfaced Folly.- 4. From Allegorical Type and Sartorial Satire to Minstrel Dandy Stereotype and Blackface-on-Black Violence.- 5. Sambo Dialects: Defining National Language Boundaries via Early Representations of Stereotypically Black Speech.- 6. Blackface in Shakespeare: Challenging Racial Allegories of Folly and Speech.- 7. Shakespeare in Blackface: Black Shakespeareans vs. Minstrel Burlesques, 1821-1844.- 8. A New Theory of Pre-Modern or Proto-Racism.- 9. White Nationalism, Trolling Humor as Propaganda, and the Renaissance of Christian Racism in the Age of Trump.