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
Previous page on path     Next page on path

 

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
  • Local Discussion
    •
  • Popout
    •
 

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
Moving Image    1930s    Live Cinema    Image

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