Representing Blackness: Issues in Film and Video

Rutgers Depth of Field Series

by Valerie Smith

The essays in this collection provide a variety of perspectives on black representation and questions of racial authenticity in mainstream as well as African American independent cinema. This volume includes seminal essays on racial stereotypes, trenchant critiques of that disclosure, original essays on important directors such as Haile Gerima and Charles Burnett, and an insightful discussion of black gay and lesbian film and video.

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Valerie Smith is an American academic administrator, professor, and scholar of African-American literature and culture. She is the 15th and current president of Swarthmore College. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she is a graduate of Bates College and the University of Virginia.