Description
Book SynopsisExplores visual culture and the social history of art through an analysis of French images of nineteenth-century Algeria.
Trade Review“This is an original book, at times brilliant, that makes an important contribution to the field.”
—David O’Brien,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“John Zarobell’s enterprising book shows how paintings and photographs of the landscapes of newly conquered Algeria formed a visual and social conception that defended and defined this first of France’s colonies in Africa. He shows how the visual ‘facts’ of the North African cityscape and landscape, exemplified by little-known and often stunning works, supported the ideology of colonialism by forming the French conception of this new territory. He combines close analysis of paintings, drawings, and photographs (by both military and independent artists) with a subtle social history of French hegemony, colonial consumerism, and imperial tourism. Zarobell’s book introduces a whole new way of looking into the dialogue of a European power with its African colony.”
—Robert L. Herbert,Mount Holyoke College
“Though his argument is often highly theoretical, Zarobell’s study is clearly written and solidly based on close visual analysis.”
—L. R. Matteson Choice
Table of ContentsContents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Eternal Feminine: Self-Sacrifice, Modesty, and Discretion
2. Fin de Siglo: Modernity and the Culture of Decadence
3. Pupilas and Mestizas
4. Santa, La India Bonita, and Mexican Maternity
5. Desnudas, Amazonas, and Tehuanas
6. Double Portraits: “Sons (and Daughters) of La Malinche”
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
