Resumen de Triangulating racism

Stephen F. Eisenman

• Part of a symposium providing a range of critical perspectives on aesthetics, ethnicity, and the history of art. The writer contends that the methods and scope of art history are well suited for the necessary work of excavating the histories of various national racisms and exposing the roots of the present ideological and political impasse. Indeed, he states, the history of racism may best be understood by means of a process of critical triangulation that places “racism” between different but related historical terms, such as “exoticism” and “primitivism.” In this way, he concludes, racism's complexity and specificity may be better revealed.