Shifting representations, ambiguous bodies: African colonial subjects in nineteenth-century Spain

This article explores the racial politics around African colonial subjects in Spain during the second half of the nineteenth century. Between the 1840s and the 1880s, colonial authorities brought to the metropole small groups of Africans from the Gulf of Guinea with the goal of turning them into hispanicized agents of colonization upon return to their communities. Drawing on official documents, newspapers and travel narratives I examine how the representations of the first groups reveal how Spain was moving from a model of social categorization based on monogenetic theories to a new paradigm influenced by the rise of scientific racism, albeit ideas from both would frequently converge. I will also argue that the mutable and unstable representations of African bodies correlate with the politicization of race, sometimes eluding depictions of physical features, while at other times showcasing them to construct an idea of racial difference.

Automated summary

This article examines the racial politics surrounding African colonial subjects in Spain during the latter half of the 19th century, exploring the representations of the first groups brought to the metropole and the shift from a social categorization model based on monogenetic theories to one influenced by the rise of scientific racism.