Work

Representing Blackness in the White Imagination: Images of ‘Happy Darkeys’ in Popular Culture, 1893–1917

Year: 1992

Type: article

Abstract: This paper is a study of American postcards which represent African Americans as “happy Darkeys.” 1 suggest that the oppressive visual metaphor of other‐as‐child positioned black subjects in a racist regime of representation which constructed subjectivities for those depicted and identities for their viewers. I then describe the distinguishing characteristics of these images, analyze the meanings they convey, and the social uses that they serve.

Source: Visual Sociology

DOI: 10.1080/14725869208583700

Author: Wayne Martin Mellinger

Institution: University of California System

Language: English

Topic: Race, History, and American Society

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funder: McGill University