Dr. David Sterling Brown is an award-winning author and a tenured Associate Professor of English at Trinity College, Connecticut. His book, Shakespeare’s White Others, published by Cambridge University Press, examines the racially white ‘others’ whom Shakespeare portrays in characters like Richard III, Hamlet and Tamora – figures who are never quite ‘white enough’. This bold and compelling work emphasises how such classification perpetuates anti-Blackness and re-affirms white supremacy, even in the absence of somatically, or physically, Black people.  

We spoke to Dr. David Sterling Brown about his book, research and the projects that inspire him. Read his blog post below.

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Written by Dr. David Sterling Brown

Shakespeare’s White Others

I wrote this book to raise awareness about and address problems of all kinds, some of which are among the previously mentioned subjects and issues I noted that my book touches on. Importantly, I wrote this book to other whiteness. It’s always bothered me that when people think of the “Other” they think of people who are not white. As a Black man, I saw that mindset as generating harm for my lived reality, especially given the pervasiveness of anti-Blackness globally. Thus, I contemplated how I could collapse the boundary between white people and the so-called Other. The intraracial color-line, a key concept in my book that illuminates divisions between ideal and less-than-ideal whiteness, is the critical apparatus that delineates the intraracial, or white-on-white, dynamics in Shakespeare’s plays that perpetuate anti-Blackness in so many ways—morally, ethically, sartorially and more. Lastly, I wrote this book to create a resource, as other scholars have also done, that will help people learn how we can consider race beyond the traditional “race plays”: Titus Andronicus, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, The Tempest and The Merchant of Venice. All human beings are raced and, therefore, we can discuss race in relation to any Shakespeare play, including Hamlet, Richard III, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, etc. because, alluding to language from Claudia Rankine’s The Racial Imaginary Institute website, “no [Shakespeare play] is untouched by race.”  

“I wrote this book to other whiteness. It’s always bothered me that when people think of the “Other” they think of people who are not white. As a Black man, I saw that mindset as generating harm for my lived reality, especially given the pervasiveness of anti-Blackness globally. “

Dr. David Sterling Brown

Visualizing Race Virtually

A project that took me two years to complete, the virtual-reality David Sterling Brown Gallery’s inaugural exhibition, Visualizing Race Virtually (VRV), features 39 visual art images from the Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection—the exhibition is a complement to my book. This project derived from my 2021-23 Mellon Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies Scholars and Society Fellowship, which afforded me a residency with The Racial Imaginary Institute. During that life-changing experience, I was exposed to the Institute’s brilliant, cross-disciplinary collaborators who inspired me to think differently about how to reach people with my work, especially non-academics. I conceptualized my gallery and exhibition and then worked with the amazingly talented Francesca Albrezzi (Office of Advanced Research and Computing at UCLA) to execute my vision.  

Truthfully, I am inspired by Beyoncé and how she uses visuals, especially during her live concerts, to engage her audience in different ways. I wanted to move in that kind of direction with Shakespeare’s White Others (SWO). And so, beyond including three images in my book, I created for my audience a free, public resource that is accessible anytime and worldwide, so long as one has a strong, stable internet connection. One can use virtual-reality goggles, such as Meta Quest 2, to visit the gallery, though they are not required. However, the goggles allow for the most immersive experience; yet, one can also navigate the gallery by using a computer keyboard and mouse or even a tablet. The Folger art aids people’s engagement with my book’s key concepts—the “white other” and the “intraracial color-line.” They can see my book’s arguments in action.   

I like to think of the book as a textbook of sorts, one I wrote for a broad audience that includes non-academics. The art gallery serves as a supplemental resource, one that folks can use with, or even before they sit with, the book. The gallery has five rooms: a Welcome Room and three rooms showcasing the art in ways that correspond with my book’s key concepts. The fifth room, the Pedagogy and Research Resource Room, contains a virtual bookshelf and video-recorded art analyses by my Trinity College students, as well as the “Sterling Resources” document that links to free resources on my website: www.DavidSterlingBrown.com.    

“…it is important to explore anti-Blackness in an cross-disciplinary way, because “no sphere of life is untouched by race.”

David Stirling Brown

The Racial Imaginary Institute and exploring anti-Blackness in an cross-disciplinary way  

Borrowing language from The Racial Imaginary Institute’s mission, it is important to explore anti-Blackness in an cross-disciplinary way, because “no sphere of life is untouched by race.” Embracing this reality as I worked on SWO, I felt compelled to write a book that would speak to as many subjects and socio-political issues as possible, while creating intellectual synergy. I offer here a list of some of those subjects and issues: domestic violence, gun violence, gentrification, mental health, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, Black Lives Matter, family dynamics, race(ism), sexism, stereotypes, English Black history, Black feminism, policing, colonialism, enslavement, anti-Black state violence, child abuse, domesticity, Jewishness, psycho-sexual violence, lynching, art, interracial relationships, pedagogy, PTSD, addiction, borderline personality disorder, Get Out (Jordan Peele), tragedy, white privilege, white supremacy, Michael Jackson (“Black or White” song), racial profiling and more. With SWO, I desired to generate as many entry points into the book as possible for people who might be interested in the Shakespeare and race conversation. That is yet another reason why I created the art gallery exhibition: to serve as an entry point for visual learners, for instance. I am always thinking about how make my work accessible, one of the reasons I am thrilled to have narrated the audiobook version of SWO for Tantor Media. 

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The Cambridge Festival is an interdisciplinary festival held in the heart of Cambridge. Its aim is to illuminate a selection of some of the fantastic ideas and research that flows through Cambridge each year. Dr. Brown will host an online event at the Cambridge Festival on Thursday 14th March 2024. Book your free place.