Abstract
The Masque of Blacknesse was a carnival—cavalcade of colour, — it was brash, bold and performed with swaggering pomposity in 1605. The Masque was written by Ben Jonson and staged by Inigo Jones. In it, the Queen of England, Anne of Denmark and her noble friends were painted Black and pretended to be the daughters of the River Niger (personified as a God King). This article unpicks the ethnographic themes in King Niger's speech where he extols the beauty of blacknesse. The author suggests that whilst early modern fiction may echo themes present in that society, it needs to be decoded and in some cases decolonised to decipher early modern ethnography.
Published Version
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