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