Perception Quartet Talks: Daniel Stein

On 23 January 2026, the organising team of the Perception Quartet online lecture series welcomed the renowned American studies scholar Prof. Dr Daniel Stein from the University of Siegen, who is affiliated with our university as a member of the CIMIG Advisory Board. His lecture on ‘Periodical Perceptions of Black Life: The Brownies’ Book and African American Modernism’ introduced the audience to a magazine for 6- to 16-year-olds published by W.E.B. Du Bois and Jessie Fauset over two years (1920–1921). The so-called Brownies’ Book aimed to develop a counter-narrative to the dominant magazine culture through strategically designed combinations of images and text, thereby illustrating to (primarily, though not exclusively) African-American readers the lives of non-non-white Americans in modern life. In this way, the magazine deliberately countered racist stereotypes by replacing commonly held images and descriptions (e.g. from the entertainment industry or from racially motivated publications) with entirely different representations. Numerous photographs, for example, depicted African-American children and young people as successful graduates or as individuals active in the arts. Reports, editorials and letters to the editor discussed the lack of unbiased portrayals of the Black US population and also broadened the perspective on non-white people in other parts of the world. Following the lecture, a lively discussion ensued, focusing, amongst other things, on viewing habits – which were also shaped by the limitations of the imaging technology of the time – and on the diversity of textual genres in the magazine.