1997, ISBN: 0415095379

[EAN: 9780415095372], [PU: Routledge], ARTS & PHOTOGRAPHY, White people are not literally or symbolically white; nor are they uniquely virtuous and pure. Racial imagery and racial rep… More...

[EAN: 9780415095372], [PU: Routledge], ARTS & PHOTOGRAPHY, White people are not literally or symbolically white; nor are they uniquely virtuous and pure. Racial imagery and racial representation are central to the organisation of the contemporary world but, while there are many studies of images of black and Asian people, whiteness is an invisible racial position. At the level of racial representation, whites are not of a certain race. They are just the human race, a 'colour' against which other ethnicities are always examined.In White, Richard Dyer looks beyond the apparent unremarkability of whiteness and argues for the importance of analysing images of white people. Dyer traces the representation of whiteness by whites in Western visual culture, focusing on the mass media of photography, advertising, fine art, cinema and television.Dyer examines the representation of whiteness and the white body in the contexts of Christianity, 'race' and colonialism. In a series of absorbing case studies, he discusses the representations of whiteness in muscle-man action cinema, from Italian 'peplum' movies to the Tarzan and Rambo series; shows the construction of whiteness in photography and cinema in the lighting of white and black faces, and analyses the representation of white women in end-of-empire fictions such as The Jewel in the Crown, and traces the disturbing association of whiteness with death, in vampire narratives and dystopian films such as Blade Runner and the Aliens trilogy., Books<

ISBN: 9780415095372

White people are not simply or singularly white, yet they are called white. What does this mean in today's world where notions of race and racial representation continually reveal their c… More...

White people are not simply or singularly white, yet they are called white. What does this mean in today's world where notions of race and racial representation continually reveal their complexity? Although many studies have examined the racial imagery of people of color, whiteness remains an invisible position; an absence against which other ethnicities are defined. In "White," Richard Dyer looks beyond the apparent unremarkability of whiteness and reveals the importance of analyzing images of white people. He traces the representation of whiteness in Western visual culture, focusing on photography, fine art, cinema, television and advertising. Dyer begins by situating white imagery in the context of Christianity, "race" and colonialism and explores the significance of using the term "white." In fascinating case studies, he shows the construction of whiteness in the technology of photography and film as part of a wider "culture of light," discusses heroic white masculinity in muscle-man action cinema, from Tarzan and Hercules to Conan and Rambo, and analyzes the stifling role of white women in end-of-empire fictions like "Jewel in the Crown." Finally, Dyer traces the troublesome associations of whiteness with death in horror movies and cult dystopian films such as "Blade Runner" and the "Aliens" trilogy. Richly illustrated with 69 black and white images and 16 pages of color plates, " White" is an innovative and provocative exploration of racial imagery. Media > Book, [PU: Routledge]<