ABSTRACT

Using alderman William Beckford (1709–1770) as a microhistorical case study, this essay analyses the interconnectedness of polite masculinity, Englishness, and whiteness in mid-eighteenth-century Britain. It argues that Beckford’s failure to perform gentlemanliness made him vulnerable to politically motivated racialised attacks. Analysing a variety of polemical texts by Beckford’s political opponents, the essay suggests that gendered performances of politeness played a crucial and thus far underresearched role in the racialisation of white West Indians. Beckford’s case shows that as an identity yet untethered to biology, white Englishness could be both compensated and endangered by performative displays of polite cultural capital .

摘要

本文以市议员威廉·贝克福德（William Beckford，1709-1770 年）作为微观历史案例研究，分析了 18 世纪中叶英国有礼貌的男性气质、英国性和白人之间的相互联系。它认为贝克福德未能表现出绅士风度，使他容易受到出于政治动机的种族化攻击。这篇文章分析了贝克福德的政治对手的各种争论文本，表明礼貌的性别表现在西印度白人的种族化中发挥了至关重要的作用，但迄今为止尚未得到充分研究。贝克福德的案例表明，作为一种不受生物学束缚的身份，白人英国人可以通过礼貌文化资本的表演展示来补偿和危害。