Human Zoos
Publisher
:
Editions La Découverte
Parution date
:
2002
EAN
:
9782707136381
Description
The idea of exhibiting “exotic” humans surfaced in the XVth and XVIth centuries, but it was not until the second half of the XVIIth century, and with the influence of the first great explorations, that the idea became a widespread phenomenon. The XIXth century saw the explosion of human zoos of one sort or another, mostly in Europe and the United States. One of the most famous precursors as defined in the context of this landmark work is P.T. Barnum’s North American travelling exhibit, Joice Heth. Heth was an African-American claimed to be 161 years old, and a former child-nurse to George Washington. The show was a big hit for Barnum, who went on to found the larger circus empire we know today. Soon after exhibitions could be seen from Paris to Basel, Stockholm to London, of human members of non-European origin behind bars, just like animals. The authors conclude that it is in this shift from an ethnological curiosity to a mass-entertainment exhibition of “the Other”, that modern racism is born.
Author
William Schneider :
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