The making and unmaking of a colonial subject: Othello
Taking as a starting point the fact that Othello's colour is politically and ideologically relevant in the development of the play, this article offers a reading of Othello as a tragedy of race. The article reviews key texts where the stereotype of the black man as a "pagan conjurer" of beastly livi...
Guardado en:
| Autor principal: | |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
| Lenguaje: | español |
| Publicado: |
Universidad de Zaragoza: Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana
1996
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| Acceso en línea: | https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/oaiart?codigo=193758 |
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| Sumario: | Taking as a starting point the fact that Othello's colour is politically and ideologically relevant in the development of the play, this article offers a reading of Othello as a tragedy of race. The article reviews key texts where the stereotype of the black man as a "pagan conjurer" of beastly living and monstrous sexuality crystallized, and traces the presence of the stereotype throughout the play. Othello's condition as a black man--whatever shade of blackness he was--is further complicated by his condition as a colonial subject who wishes to adopt western culture. The play dramatizes the apparently unlimited possibilities of self-fashioning available to man in the Renaissance, only to deconstruct this optimistic self-fashioning or self-creation when race issues come into play. It is Iago's exploitation of the politics of colour and of Othello's double nature (proper to a colonial subject) that brings about Othello's downfall. |
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