Bad Blood: Staging Race Between Early Modern England and Spain

Bad Blood explores representations of race in early modern English and Spanish literature, particularly drama, and addresses two different forms of racial ideology: one concerned with racialized religious difference and the other with Blackness and whiteness. It challenges assumptions that premodern racial ideology focused on religious difference and purity of blood more than color and reveals how ideologies of racialized slavery and religious difference come to England via Spain. The enslavement of Black Africans is inextricable from the staging of race in early modern literature.

Format: Hardback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 18 April 2023
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Bad Blood delves into the representations of race in early modern English and Spanish literature, particularly in drama. It explores two distinct racial ideologies: one centered on racialized religious differences, such as the notion of having Jewish or Muslim "blood," and the other focused on Blackness and whiteness. Shakespeare's Othello, for instance, reveals that he was "sold to slavery" in his youth, a phrase that resonates with the Atlantic triangle trade for contemporary readers. However, scholars have long argued that racialized slavery was not widely understood in early modern England. Instead, they suggest that the kind of enslavement depicted in Othello is more closely linked to Christian-Muslim conflict in the Mediterranean rather than the emergence of racialized enslavement of Afro-diasporic subjects.

To challenge these assumptions, Bad Blood provides a fresh perspective on early modern race by tracing the evolution of European racial vocabularies from Spain to England. Emily Weissbourd argues that the context of the Atlantic slave trade is essential in understanding race in early modern Spanish and English literature. Through readings of plays by Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, and their contemporaries, as well as Spanish picaresque fiction and its English translations, Weissbourd demonstrates how ideologies of racialized slavery and religious difference traveled from Spain to England. She reveals how both notions of race operate in conjunction to reinforce fantasies of Blackness, whiteness, and "pure blood."

Weissbourd further shows that the enslavement of Black Africans is intricately linked to the staging of race in early modern literature. She analyzes how plays, novels, and other textual forms depict and perpetuate racial stereotypes, biases, and prejudices. By examining the ways in which race is represented and constructed in these texts, Bad Blood sheds light on the complex and often contradictory ways in which early modern writers negotiated and contested notions of race.

In conclusion, Bad Blood offers a groundbreaking exploration of race in early modern English and Spanish literature. By challenging traditional assumptions and providing a fresh perspective on the development of European racial vocabularies, Weissbourd demonstrates how the context of the Atlantic slave trade is indispensable to understanding race in these literary traditions. Through close readings of a range of texts, Bad Blood sheds light on the complex and often contradictory ways in which early modern writers negotiated and contested notions of race, contributing to our understanding of the enduring legacy of race in modern society.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781512822908