Sign in or register
for additional privileges

Birth of An Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation

Nicholas Sammond, Author
Space, page 17 of 36

 

You appear to be using an older verion of Internet Explorer. For the best experience please upgrade your IE version or switch to a another web browser.

Space, Page 170

An ad for Philco radios features Charley Mack of the blackface duo Moran and Mack hawking their stage show, radio program, and feature film. Minstrelsy was an intermedial phenomenon, linked as much to voice (especially in radio) as to appearance and its performance across media reinforced the pervasiveness of Jim Crow as a social formation acceptable to whites and imposed on nonwhites.

In another example of minstrelsy as a public performance of Jim Crow, Al Jolson's promotional tour for his 1930 film Mammy,  deployed parades of minstrels to advertise the film. In this scene from Mammy, Jolson performs the song "Who Paid the Rent for Mrs. Rip Van Winkle?" in front of a minstrel troupe, with all performers in blackface, except for the interlocutor. The interlocutor sits directly behind Jolson as he performs and the unchanging framing of the shot throughout the song presents him as a shadow of Jolson's minstrel, performing the interlocutor's control the minstrel and further heightening the visualization of this contemporary racial formation. 
Comment on this page
 

Discussion of "Space, Page 170"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Previous page on path Space, page 17 of 36 Next page on path

Related:  Performance, Page 50Performance, Page 84Space, Page 182Space, Page 162Performance, Page 35Race, Page 206Race, Page 257Introduction, Page 1Race, Page 248Introduction, Page 14Labor, Page 96Space, Page 159Introduction, Page 29Space, Page 148Space, Page 156Conclusion, Page 268Performance, Page 62Space, Page 191Space, Page 165Space, Page 187Introduction, Page 20introduction-page-22Race, Page 239Space, Page 190Introduction, Page 23Conclusion, Page 286Introduction, Page 15Space, Page 150Space, Page 137Conclusion, Page 289Conclusion, Page 303Conclusion, Page 273Introduction, Page 21Space, Page 178Race, Page 252Space, Page 181Performance, Page 80Conclusion, Page 284Labor, Page 119Introduction, Page 18Performance, Page 67Performance, Page 45Space, Page 184Race, Page 232Labor, Page 128Space, Page 171Space, Page 141Labor, Page 126Race, Page 229Conclusion, Page 298Conclusion, Page 300Introduction, Page 6Space, Page 189Performance, Page 72Labor, Page 131Race, Page 254Performance, Page 74Race, Page 231Space, Page 188Space, Page 197Space, Page 194Race, Page 230Space, Page 163Performance, Page 40Performance, Page 60Race, Page 213Conclusion, Page 291Race, Page 225Labor, Page 88Introduction, Page 2Labor, Page 123Space, Page 192Conclusion, Page 275Labor, Page 109Performance, Page 54Introduction, Page 12Conclusion, Page 274Conclusion, Page 278Space, Page 172Conclusion, Page 304Introduction, Page 30Race, Page 221Race, Page 220Race, Page 204Introduction, Page 9Performance, Page 78Race, Page 219Labor, Page 110Conclusion, Page 302Performance, Page 43Conclusion, Page 290Space, Page 183Race, Page 258Performance, Page 47Space, Page 193Race, Page 247Space, Page 152Performance, Page 56Labor, Page 113Performance, Page 46Space, Page 138Race, Page 261Space, Page 177Labor, Page 102Performance, Page 77Conclusion, Page 272Introduction, Page 16Race, Page 235Performance, Page 41Performance, Page 82Space, Page 146Race, Page 224Performance, Page 34Labor, Page 122Space, Page 143Labor, Page 133Space, Page 195Performance, Page 42Race, Page 251Race, Page 253Space, Page 155Space, Page 175Labor, Page 98Introduction, Page 4Performance, Page 44Space, Page 169Race, Page 245Labor, Page 112Labor, Page 132Performance, Page 52Conclusion, Page 296Conclusion, Page 292Labor, Page 93Introduction, Page 26