Forgeries of Memory and Meaning

“Deeply incisive. . . . Provides a fresh contribution to one of the most significant aspects of American cinema.” — The Journal of African American History

“Invaluable to scholars of popular culture, Marxist studies, and especially, black studies. . . . [Robinson] writes with the seldom-heard acumen of a social scientist and is able to discern how and why the American entertainment industry represents — and misrepresents — class and race.” — North Carolina Historical Review

“Offers a copiously researched and compelling study. . . . A profoundly important and elegantly written historical study of a great artistic conflict.” — Theatre Research International

“A call to action.” — National Political Science Review

“One of the most important resources in years, this book is already a classic.” — CHOICE

“This ambitious project, grounded in a broad historicity, will elicit some dissent, but Robinson’s first-rate scholarship will be difficult to counter and will stand the test of time.” — American Historical Review

“Robinson’s assertions that capitalists controlled and manipulated the image of blackness . . . are a very important contribution.” — Journal of Southern History

“A complex, thoughtful perspective on the protean nature of American culture and those who profited and suffered from its progression.” — Journal of American History

“There is nothing like this book. At once a magnificent work of social and cultural history, an anthropology of race, and a political economy of racial capitalism and Empire, this is the most original examination of the American film industry ever published. But like all of Robinson’s work, Forgeries of Memory and Meaning does much more, extending over three centuries to reconstruct the roots of modern black representation in the works of Shakespeare, scientific discourse, and early minstrelsy. And his prodigious research has uncovered celluloid gems and theater works I never knew existed.” — Robin D. G. Kelley, University of Southern California

“Careful, exhaustive scholarship and densely packed argumentation. . . . One of the most important resources in years, this book is already a classic. . . . Essential.” — CHOICE