"Nineteenth-Century Visions of Race: British Travel Writing about America concerns the depiction of racial Others in travel writing produced by British travelers coming to America between 1815 and 1861. The travelers' discussion of slavery and of the situation of Native Americans constituted an inherent part of their interest in the country's democratic system, but it also reflected numerous additional problems: 19th-century conceptions of race, the writers' own political agendas as well as their like ordislike of America in general, which impacted how they assessed the treatment of the subaltern groups by the young republic. While all British travelers were critical of American slavery and most of them expressed sympathy for Native Americans, their attitude towards non-whites was shaped by prejudices characteristic of the age. The book brings together descriptions of blacks and Native Americans, showing their similarities stemming from 19th-century views on race as well as their differences; it also focuses on the depiction of race in travel writing as part of Anglo-American relations of the period"--
Nineteenth-Century Visions of Race: British Travel Writing about America concerns the depiction of racial Others in travel writing produced by British travelers coming to America between 1815 and 1861.
Nineteenth-Century Visions of Race: British Travel Writing about America concerns the depiction of racial Others in travel writing produced by British travelers coming to America between 1815 and 1861.The travelers discussions of slavery and of the situation of Native Americans constituted an inherent part of their interest in the countrys democratic system, but it also reflected numerous additional problems: 19th-century conceptions of race, the writers own political agendas, as well as their like or dislike of America in general, which impacted how they assessed the treatment of the subaltern groups by the young republic. While all British travelers were critical of American slavery and most of them expressed sympathy for Native Americans, their attitude towards non-whites was shaped by prejudices characteristic of the age. The book brings together descriptions of blacks and Native Americans, showing their similarities stemming from 19th-century views on race as well as their differences; it also focuses on the depiction of race in travel writing as part of Anglo-American relations of the period.
Acknowledgments |
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vii | |
Introduction |
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1 | (23) |
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2 | (7) |
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Transatlantic Relations in the Early 19th Century |
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9 | (3) |
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The Discourse of Travel Writing |
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12 | (12) |
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1 Nineteenth-Century Conceptions of Race |
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24 | (17) |
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The Beginnings of Racial Science |
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24 | (8) |
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Attitudes Towards Blacks and Native Americans |
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32 | (9) |
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2 Touring the Land of the Unfree |
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41 | (38) |
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The South, the North, and Abolitionism |
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49 | (6) |
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55 | (7) |
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Essentialist Views of Race |
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62 | (6) |
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Nineteenth-Century Racial Hierarchies |
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68 | (11) |
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3 Children of the Forest, Noble and Ignoble Savages: Encounters with Native Americans |
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79 | (32) |
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Sympathy for the Oppressed |
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82 | (4) |
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Savages Noble and Ignoble: The Double Image |
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86 | (9) |
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95 | (7) |
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102 | (9) |
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4 Gazing at Racialized Bodies |
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111 | (31) |
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Seeking Esthetic Pleasure |
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114 | (5) |
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The Ugly, the Grotesque, the Animal |
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119 | (9) |
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128 | (5) |
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133 | (9) |
Conclusion |
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142 | (7) |
Index |
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149 | |
Justyna Fruziska holds an MA in American Literature and a PhD in Cultural Studies from the University of Lodz, Poland, where she holds the position of Assistant Professor and teaches American literature, culture, and history. Her publications include Emerson Goes to the Movies: Individualism in Walt Disney Company's Post-1989 Animated Films (2014), as well as numerous academic articles on American popular culture, travel writing, Transcendentalism, and Polish poetry.