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Summary: Cotton's Jesters

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Rhea Tucker  -  MUSI 730  --  04/05/2017  --  Professor Gerber  --  Assignment 3Summary
 Minstrel Shows. What often comes to mind is the elaborate productions put on by white performers who would apply burnt cork/greasepaint/ shoe polish to their face and make a mockery out of black people. These shows were a sensation around the country and continued to be in high demand for decades after Thomas D (T.D.) Rice’s legendary performances in 1829. However, minstrel shows were more than just comedic performances. They were the embodiment of an image of southern culture and reflected the brutal yet honest national sentiments about slavery in America, unrest among young adult men (“native-born and immigrant”) and the “show business-like nature” that politics was becoming. These shows borrowed source material from African American culture (“dance, music, and folklore”) but knew very little about authentic black experience in the south. The minstrel was not concerned with facts or “realism,” but in using songs and jokes in suggesting a story; creating a fantasy world for the audience to enjoy. Minstrelsy, in addition to being one of the most widespread sources of entertainment, was a place where the audience (mainly young white men) could go to and relate these stories to the trials and tribulations of their everyday lives.
 Minstrel Shows commonly and successfully touched on the anxiety felt by these young men which included the growing tensions among men and women in these new developed cities (women knowing when to stay in their place), tension among low culture (big-city poor) and high culture (upper class), sexual frustrations, the idea of what it means to be successful, and most importantly. the political system in which they had put their hopes and dreams into believing it would improve their lives. Minstrel shows were shows by the people for the people. But that’s just it. The audience was only the consumer of this culture. The show was being run by theater tycoons and producers who pandered to the needs/wants/notions of the audience to keep them coming back for more. Yes, these shows interpreted race for the white working class but the message relay was always the same; “Opportunity in America was for whites. Slavery was the “place” of blacks.”
Sources
 Evans uses secondary sources under the topic of African American studies. Sources include a multitude of scholarly texts and articles about the history of minstrelsy, black oppression, and a brief look into show business in America. Evans makes mention to minstrel plays and song books from the works of composer Stephen C. Foster.
 

This page has paths:

  1. Literature Summaries & Research Abstracts Steven Gerber

This page has tags:

  1. Topic: Gender Politics Steven Gerber
  2. Topic: Ethnic Caricature Steven Gerber
  3. Topic: Cultural Appropriation Steven Gerber

Contents of this tag:

  1. Participant: Tucker, Rhea