The Past Is Not Dead ─ Facts, Fictions, and Enduring Racial Stereotypes

During a 1985 visit to Sweden's National Portrait Gallery, Pred (geography, U. of California, Berkeley) was first struck by a painting of a young male. Called Badin, he was an Afro-Caribbean slave given to the Swedish royal court, whose portrait was created in 1775 by a royal court artist. Through the example of Badin, Pred explores past and present racial stereotyping and hypersexuality in Sweden and beyond. In two interlocking montages inspired by Walter Benjamin, Pred examines representations of Badin's life appearing from the 1840s through the 1990s, and considers contemporary urban sites where racialized stereotyping is on public display, including a Swedish museum that has exhibited the physical remains of an African male. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)