{"product_id":"the-anatomy-of-blackness-science-slavery-in-an-age-of-enlightenment-paperback","title":"The Anatomy of Blackness: Science \u0026 Slavery in an Age of Enlightenment - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAndrew S. Curran\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2012 Outstanding Academic Title, \u003ci\u003eChoice Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis volume examines the Enlightenment-era textualization of the Black African in European thought. Andrew S. Curran rewrites the history of blackness by replicating the practices of eighteenth-century readers. Surveying French and European travelogues, natural histories, works of anatomy, pro- and anti-slavery tracts, philosophical treatises, and literary texts, Curran shows how naturalists and \u003ci\u003ephilosophes\u003c\/i\u003e drew from travel literature to discuss the perceived problem of human blackness within the nascent human sciences, describes how a number of now-forgotten anatomists revolutionized the era's understanding of black Africans, and charts the shift of the slavery debate from the moral, mercantile, and theological realms toward that of the \"black body\" itself. In tracing this evolution, he shows how blackness changed from a mere descriptor in earlier periods into a thing to be measured, dissected, handled, and often brutalized.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003ePenetrating and comprehensive, \u003ci\u003eThe Anatomy of Blackness\u003c\/i\u003e shows that, far from being a monolithic idea, eighteenth-century Africanist discourse emerged out of a vigorous, varied dialogue that involved missionaries, slavers, colonists, naturalists, anatomists, philosophers, and Africans themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis volume examines the Enlightenment-era textualization of the Black African in European thought. Andrew S. Curran rewrites the history of blackness by replicating the practices of eighteenth-century readers. Surveying French and European travelogues, natural histories, works of anatomy, pro- and anti-slavery tracts, philosophical treatises, and literary texts, Curran shows how naturalists and \u003ci\u003ephilosophes\u003c\/i\u003e drew from travel literature to discuss the perceived problem of human blackness within the nascent human sciences. He also describes how a number of now-forgotten anatomists revolutionized the era's understanding of black Africans and charts the shift of the slavery debate from the moral, mercantile, and theological realms toward that of the \"black body\" itself. In tracing this evolution, he shows how blackness changed from a mere descriptor in earlier periods into a thing to be measured, dissected, handled, and often brutalized.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA definitive statement on the complex, painful, and richly revealing topic of how the major figures of the French Enlightenment reacted to the enslavement of black Africans, often to their discredit. The fields of race studies and of Enlightenment studies are more than ready to embrace the type of analysis in which Curran engages, and all the more so in that his book is beautifully written and illustrated.--\u003ci\u003eSymposium\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is an important contribution to an important topic. But it is also a model of how intellectual history should be done.--\u003ci\u003eNew Books in History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe breadth of Andrew Curran's knowledge about the Enlightenment is astonishing . . . The book makes the convincing point not only that Africa is a major focus in the Enlightenment's imagination, but also that natural history and anthropology are central to understanding not only its scientific agenda, but also its humanitarian politics.--\u003ci\u003eCentaurus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCurran's Francotropism and medical background enable him to develop insights that should prove important to the ongoing transnationalization and discipline-blurring of literary and cultural studies.--\u003ci\u003eInterdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCurran's ability to dissect and explain complicated arguments of the period's major thinkers is impressive.--\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e--Sue Peabody, author of \u003ci\u003eThere Are No Slaves in France: The Political Culture of Race and Slavery in the Ancien Régime\u003c\/i\u003e \"Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment\"\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis volume examines the Enlightenment-era textualization of the Black African in European thought. Andrew S. Curran rewrites the history of blackness by replicating the practices of eighteenth-century readers. Surveying French and European travelogues, natural histories, works of anatomy, pro- and anti-slavery tracts, philosophical treatises, and literary texts, Curran shows how naturalists and \u003ci\u003ephilosophes\u003c\/i\u003e drew from travel literature to discuss the perceived problem of human blackness within the nascent human sciences. He also describes how a number of now-forgotten anatomists revolutionized the era's understanding of black Africans and charts the shift of the slavery debate from the moral, mercantile, and theological realms toward that of the \"black body\" itself. In tracing this evolution, he shows how blackness changed from a mere descriptor in earlier periods into a thing to be measured, dissected, handled, and often brutalized.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\"A definitive statement on the complex, painful, and richly revealing topic of how the major figures of the French Enlightenment reacted to the enslavement of black Africans, often to their discredit. The fields of race studies and of Enlightenment studies are more than ready to embrace the type of analysis in which Curran engages, and all the more so in that his book is beautifully written and illustrated.\"--\u003ci\u003eSymposium\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This is an important contribution to an important topic. But it is also a model of how intellectual history should be done.\"--\u003ci\u003eNew Books in History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The breadth of Andrew Curran's knowledge about the Enlightenment is astonishing . . . The book makes the convincing point not only that Africa is a major focus in the Enlightenment's imagination, but also that natural history and anthropology are central to understanding not only its scientific agenda, but also its humanitarian politics.\"--\u003ci\u003eCentaurus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Curran's Francotropism and medical background enable him to develop insights that should prove important to the ongoing transnationalization and discipline-blurring of literary and cultural studies.\"--\u003ci\u003eInterdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Curran's ability to dissect and explain complicated arguments of the period's major thinkers is impressive.\"--\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndrew S. Curran \u003c\/b\u003eis a professor of French at Wesleyan University and a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine in the history of medicine. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eSublime Disorder: Physical Monstrosity in Diderot's Universe\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 328\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 9.1 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 15, 2013\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42119256506503,"sku":"9781421409658","price":61.47,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/94ccc76cc744023168e2a7512cfe6d62.webp?v=1732539902","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/the-anatomy-of-blackness-science-slavery-in-an-age-of-enlightenment-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}