Nell Irvin Painter è una storica americana celebrata per i suoi studi sulla storia del sud del diciannovesimo secolo. Distinta emerita della Princeton University, ha guidato importanti organizzazioni storiche. Il suo lavoro approfondisce le storie sociali e culturali del Sud americano, in particolare illuminando le esperienze degli afroamericani e delle donne. Painter è riconosciuta per il suo acuto approccio analitico e la sua notevole capacità di riportare in vita il passato con ricchi dettagli e una comprensione sfumata.
In this powerful collection of groundbreaking essays, Painter reaches across the colour line to examine how race, gender, class, and individual subjectivity shaped the lives of black and white women and men in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century South.
A New York Times bestseller: This terrific new book . . . [explores] the `notion of whiteness,' an idea as dangerous as it is seductive.-Boston Globe
A consistently engrossing, occasionally irreverent, always smoothly written history of America's painful entry into the modern age.-Kirkus Reviews
Exploring art, politics, and the enduring legacy of racism, this collection of essays presents Nell Painter's incisive commentary on American history. With a keen focus on figures like Sojourner Truth and Toni Morrison, she challenges readers to rethink race, identity, and political landscapes, particularly in light of contemporary issues. Accompanied by her original artwork, which complements her writing, Painter's work reflects a deep inquiry into the complexities and contradictions of American society, emphasizing the ongoing struggle between progress and stagnation.
The book explores the complex interactions between black and white communities in the South, challenging the notion of a rigid color line in historical narratives. Historian Nell Irvin Painter emphasizes that, despite societal expectations for racial separation, the lives of these groups were deeply interconnected throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This examination seeks to reshape the understanding of southern history by highlighting the entanglements that existed beneath the surface of segregation.