The Global Consequences of Mistranslation: The Adoption of the “Black but …” Formulation in Europe, 1440–1650
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2012, Vol 3, Issue 3
Abstract
This article investigates the genesis of a linguistic model occasioned by a mistranslation that was taken up in the Renaissance, and had an enduring global impact. I call this model the ―black but…‖ formulation, and it is to be found in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries throughout written texts and reported speech, in historical as well as literary works. It was modeled grammatically and ideologically on the statement ―I am black but beautiful‖ often attributed to the Queen of Sheba in 1:5 of the ―Song of Songs‖, and had a detrimental effect on how members of the early African forced diaspora were viewed by Renaissance Europeans. I argue that the newly adversarial nature of the phrase was adopted as a linguistic and cultural formulation, and introduced into Western European cultures a whole way of approaching and perceiving blackness or looking at black African people.
Authors and Affiliations
Kate Lowe
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP25255
- DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel3030544
- Views 352
- Downloads 19
Matˇej of Janov: Corpus Mysticum, Communionem, and the Lost Treatise of His Regulae
The Bohemian theologian Matˇej of Janov (d.1393) is little known outside of Czech Hussite scholarship, yet his Regulae Veteris et Novi Testamentum is arguably as important an influence on the genesis and development of...
Linguistic Decipherment of the Lettering on the (Original) Carving of the Virgin of Candelaria from Tenerife (Canary Islands)
The wooden carving of Our Lady of Candelaria, discovered in the municipality of the same name on the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands) during the first half of the fifteenth century, had nearly two hundred letters of...
Conceptual Pathways to Ethnic Transcendence in Diverse Churches: Theoretical Reflections on the Achievement of Successfully Integrated Congregations
The concept of ethnic transcendence—defined as the process of co-formulating a shared religious identity among diverse members that supersedes their racial and ethnic differences through congregational involvement—capt...
Trends in Addressing Social Needs: A Longitudinal Study of Congregation-Based Service Provision and Political Participation
When congregations seek to address social needs, they often pursue this goal through acts of service and political engagement. Over the past three decades, a tremendous amount of research has been dedicated to analyzin...
Women’s Circles and the Rise of the New Feminine: Reclaiming Sisterhood, Spirituality, and Wellbeing
This paper draws on the results of ethnographic research on ‘women’s circles’; women-only spaces that celebrate sisterhood and the ‘feminine’, including the increasingly globally popular ‘Red Tent’. Women’s circles are...