Constructing Race on the Borders of Europe : Ethnography, Anthropology, and Visual Culture, 1850-1930

Constructing Race on the Borders of Europe investigates the visual imagery of race construction in Scandinavia, Austro Hungary, Germany, and Russia. It covers a period when historic disciplines of ethnography and anthropology were expanding and theorists of race were debating competing conceptions of biological, geographic, linguistic, and cultural determinants. Beginning in 1850 and extending into the early 21st century, this book explores how paintings, photographs, prints, and other artistic media engaged with these discourses and shaped visual representations of subordinate ethnic populations and material cultures in countries associated with theorizations of white identity.

The chapters contribute to postcolonial research by documenting the colonial-style treatment of minority groups, by exploring the anomalies and complexities that emerge when binary systems are seen from the perspective of the fine and applied arts, and by representing the voices of those who produced images or objects that adopted, altered, or critiqued ethnographic and anthropological information. In doing so, Constructing Race on the Borders of Europe uncovers instances of unexpected connections, establishes the fabricated nature of ethnic identity, and challenges the certainties of racial categorization.

“Focusing our attention on the often contested and frequently porous "borders of Europe", this essential collection of essays complicates our understanding of how race, ethnicity, and national identity have been constructed and operationalized through art, design, and visual culture.” —Allison Morehead, Associate Professor of Art History, Queen's University, Canada

“A compelling and timely collection of essays based on immaculate research that will alter the reader's critical understanding of the complex cultural-political engagement with subordinate ethnic groups in parts of Europe that have too long been marginalised by postcolonial discourse.” —Sabine Wieber, Lecturer in History of Art, University of Glasgow, UK