Article ID: CBB754748521

Constructing the “Jewish Type”: Anthropometric Measurement, Composite Photography, and Anthropology in the Late Victorian Age (2021)

unapi

Abstract With the emergence of new photographic technologies and processes during the second half of the nineteenth century, it became increasingly easier to pursue anthropometric research in anthropology. One group to receive particular attention was the Jewish community. This interest was due to several factors including the influx of Jewish immigrants to Britain as a result of the pogroms in the Russian Empire, easy access to subjects for the purpose of photographing and measuring them, and longstanding attempts to classify and racialize Jewish people within the human sciences. This paper will examine the construction of the supposed “Jewish type” during the late Victorian period by looking at the work of the Victorian polymath Francis Galton (1822–1911), and the Jewish folklorist and anthropologist Joseph Jacobs (1854–1916). Using the composite portraits of Jewish schoolboys that appeared in The Photographic News in 1885, the paper will explore both Galton’s and Jacobs’ visual epistemologies for constructing and representing this racial category, and the social and political factors underpinning their interpretations.

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB754748521/

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Authors & Contributors
McMahon, Richard
Challis, Debbie
Bonmassar, Michele
Clever, Iris
Livio Sansone
Zumwalt, Rosemary Lévy
Concepts
Anthropology
Racism
Science and race
Anthropometry
Science and politics
Antisemitism
Time Periods
20th century, early
19th century
20th century
Places
Germany
Italy
Great Britain
Russia
Yugoslavia
South America
Institutions
Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)
Columbia University
American Museum of Natural History, New York
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