Skip to main content
table of contents
Introduction
Even though there were relatively few people of color in post-revolutionary France, images of and discussions about Black women, in particular, repeatedly appeared in various French cultural sectors and social milieus. In Vénus Noire, Robin Mitchell shows how these literary and visual depictions of Black women helped to shape the country’s post-revolutionary national identity, particularly in response to the trauma of the French defeat in the Haitian Revolution. Mitchell explores the ramifications of this defeat by examining visual and literary representations of three Black women who achieved fame in the following years: Sarah Baartmann, Ourika, and Jeanne Duval.This Resource for Instructors was designed with teachers and students in mind and offers information not included in the book.