Seeing Whiteness in the Nineteenth Century and Beyond

Abstract

This essay argues for the importance of teaching the history of the idea of whiteness in nineteenth-century studies. It picks up questions from other fields of study and popular discourse—"Why does whiteness escape observation and examination? How might we learn to see its presence and power?"—and places them in the Victorian classroom. Strategies and texts for helping students think about whiteness as part of both critical race and nineteenth-century studies include approaching canonical texts from new perspectives, incorporating non-literary forms of media for analysis, and introducing students to critics like Toni Morrison and Richard Dyer.