Exploring anachronism, ornamentalism, and citizenization in the post-racial Regency world of Bridgerton

This essay considers the use and reception of postracial anachronism in the Bridgerton world, comprising the first two seasons of the eponymous series and the spinoff series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. It begins with an overview of the Bridgerton world as an anachronistic Regency chronotope before discussing the online media reception of the colour-conscious casting of Bridgerton, and then reflecting on the historiographical implications of such a fantasy. It argues that Bridgerton confirms David Cannadine’s historiographical thesis in Ornamentalism (2001) that hierarchies and rituals of class took precedence over differences of race and practices of othering during the 19th century, but it acknowledges that the series and spinoff also engage in the process of what the Canadian philosopher and political scientist James Tully calls “citizenization”.