snip
> It's also far from clear that othello is supposed to be a black
> African, as opposed to an Arab ( he speaks scornfully of a turk as an
> "uncircumsized dog," which would only be an insult if he were Muslim,
> i.e. circumsized himself; also, his mother seems to be some sort of
> Egyptian?).
All Arab peoples are not Muslims and all Muslims are not Arab peoples.
Circumcision is practiced by non-Muslim African peoples.
The Elizabethans knew perfectly well that the Arabs had a
> great, if unchristian, civilization, with a material culture equal to
> their own. Medieval and Renaissance romances, after all, are full of
> noble paynims, love affairs between Christians and Muslims, etc. It
> really doesn't seem to me much like the discourse of black and white in
> nineteenth century America.
>
There is clear evidence of a tremendous change in the portrayal of African peoples in european art (and religious art) with the transition taking place in the late 15th and 16th centuries. Basil Davidson. among others, has documented this.
This is not to say that 19th century "scientific" racism was no different than the earlier forms.
Mat Forstater