The Racialization of Print

“The Racialization of Print”Joseph Rezek, Boston University No medium has an inherent ideology, though it may acquire one over time. How do we tell the history of such acquisition? Scholars of the long eighteenth century... [ view full abstract ]

“The Racialization of Print”

Joseph Rezek, Boston University 

No medium has an inherent ideology, though it may acquire one over time. How do we tell the history of such acquisition? Scholars of the long eighteenth century have devoted their attention to the history of race and the history of print, for example, but we do not have an adequate explanation of the dynamic, changing interrelationship relationship the two phenomena. This paper offers preliminary reflections on what I call the racialization of print, or the centuries-long process through which the presumed voice of the English language printed text became associated predominantly with whiteness even – and especially – as non-white printed voices multiplied exponentially. Specifically, the paper argues that presumed whiteness of print was an unsettled question before modern racial categories emerged, and that print’s racialization occurred partly as a reaction against the rise of an unprecedented, internationally recognized black print tradition. It is from the prospective of black writers that this transformation is most clearly observable, and the writings and reception of Mary Prince and David Walker will be offered as illustrative case studies.