‘For They are Naturally Born’: Quandaries of Racial Representation in George Best's A True Discourse
2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 17; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/13645145.2013.816924
ISSN1755-7550
Autores Tópico(s)Caribbean history, culture, and politics
ResumoGeorge Best employs racial rhetoric in his exploration narrative to contemplate and order human difference. This essay examines the ways in which that racial rhetoric, informed by prior English understandings of sub-Saharan Africa, disrupts the narrative as Best grapples with cosmographical quandaries, not the least of which is how and where American indigenous groups fit into a larger world order. Close reading of the textual and rhetorical features of Best's narrative reveals the manner in which black Africans function as an essential but problematic mediating presence through which Best contemplates cultural differences, in particular the features of the Inuit, and attempts to reconcile moments of cognitive dissonance in which his expectations do not align with his experiences. Ultimately, the narrative suggests larger questions about how racial discourse and stereotypes about West Africa affected Englishmen's encounters with and representations of Native peoples in early Atlantic contact zones.
Referência(s)