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Reviewed by:
  • Races on Display: French Representations of Colonized Peoples, 1886–1940
  • Jack Carson Jr. (bio)
Hale, Dana S. Races on Display: French Representations of Colonized Peoples, 1886–1940. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2008.

In the book being reviewed called Races on Display, Dana S. Hale sets out a noteworthy account which addresses attention to certain representations, or, that is, images of some sort. The representations referred to are French representations, as opposed to American and/or British ones, and, among other things, they span across two periods of time involving three kinds of non-European people. The text had its origin in the PhD dissertation [End Page 690] Hale submitted in 1998 in comparative history in Waltham, Massachusetts, at Brandeis University, and, when it was published in 2008, Hale had been from 1998 to 2005 a professor of history in Washington, D.C., at Howard University.

As to manner of exposition, with its two parts comprising eight chapters, the book being reviewed is a picture perfect example of organization. It begins with a general introduction, followed by an introduction to part one, followed by part one, followed by an introduction to part two, followed by part two, and it ends with a summary statement of its foremost findings. In this instance, the introduction to part one is chapter one. Part one is chapters two through four. Part two is chapters five through seven, and the summary statement is chapter eight.

As to matter of exposition, pertinent to the number of topics falling under its themes, the book being reviewed is a picture perfect example of coverage. In regard to possibility, it addresses attention to representations pertaining to two periods of time, three kinds of people, and two kinds of phenomena, so, combinatorially, there are twelve topics which can be covered. In regard to actuality, all twelve of the topics are covered; none of them are not covered. The two periods of time addressed are 1886–1913 and 1914–1940. Taken together, the two periods of time indicated span the latter fifty-five years of the Third Republic of France; the years 1913 and 1914 pertain to the beginnings of World War I. The three kinds of people involved in the representations are certain black sub-Saharan Africans, certain white North Africans, and certain yellow Indochinese. The two kinds of phenomena involved are certain French trademark designs and commercial advertisements and certain French international expositions which were on the order of world’s fairs. So, for example, in regard to the period of time 1886–1913, there is a chapter covering representations of black sub-Saharan Africans which consist in images associated with French trademark designs and commercial advertisements together with images associated with the French international exposition of 1900. Similarly, in regard to the period of time 1914–1940, there are chapters covering representations, respectively, of white North Africans and yellow Indochinese which consist in images associated with French trademark designs and commercial advertisements together with images associated with the French international expositions of 1922, 1931, and 1937.

For present purposes, choose black sub-Saharan Africans and French representations featuring them. Then, among other things, the following observations obtain.

In Races on Display, Hale reports (162–64) that, during the period of time 1886–1940, representations of black sub-Saharan Africans appeared in trademark designs and commercial advertisements for approximately seven hundred French products. With respect to those representations, she reports that some of them appeared in designs and advertisements for foods such as chocolate, breakfast cereals, and spices; some, in the designs and advertisements for bleaches, soaps, and other cleaning products; and, some, in the designs and advertisements for other products such as ink, oil, and polishing agents for boots, shoes, leathers, and metals.

In Races on Display, Hale also attempts to explain why representations of black sub-Saharan Africans appeared in the trademark designs and commercial advertisements for French products in the manner they appeared. Here, in effect, for the period of time 1886–1913, she gives two explanations: one of the two explanations is given early in the text; the other, eventually in its summary statement. [End Page 691]

According to the earlier explanation (25), for the...

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