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Document Details : Title: De ondeugende (zwarte) knecht Subtitle: Nederlandse harlekinades en belichaamde kennis over ras en kolonialisme Author(s): ADAMS, Sarah J. Journal: Spiegel der Letteren Volume: 65 Issue: 2-3 Date: 2023 Pages: 189-215 DOI: 10.2143/SDL.65.2.3292813 Abstract : Inspired by Diana Taylor’s notion of the performative scenario and Noémie Ndiaye’s recent conceptualization of racecraft, this article turns to two popular Dutch harlequinades – Arlequin, tovenaar en barbier (1698/1730) and Arlequin uit slaverny verlost door toverkunst (1803) – in order to examine the scenario of the ‘mischievous (black) servant’ in relation to socioeconomic realities and ideological needs of the Dutch Atlantic system at that time. It thus moves away from dominant text-based paradigms in the field of Dutch colonial and literary studies. A performative approach to the harlequinade and its black-masked protagonist in particular demonstrates how corporality was central to the activation of subversive commedia plots as well as to the recording, generation, and transforming of knowledge and feelings about race and colonialism over time. |
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