Inside the Minstrel Mask: Readings in Nineteenth-Century Blackface Minstrelsy - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0819563005 ISBN 13: 9780819563002

Publisher: Wesleyan University Press, 1996

Synopsis

As the blackface minstrel show evolved from its beginnings in the American Revolution to its peak during the late 1800s, its frenetic dances, low-brow humor, and lively music provided more than mere entertainment. Indeed, these imitations and parodies shaped society's perceptions of African Americans-and of women-as well as made their mark on national identity, policymaking decisions, and other entertainment forms such as vaudeville, burlesque, the revue, and, eventually, film, radio, and television. Gathered here are rare primary materials-including firsthand accounts of minstrel shows, minstrelsy guides, jokes, sketches, and sheet music-and the best of contemporary scholarship on minstrelsy.

About this title

From the Publisher:

6 x 9 trim. 25 illus. 6 tables. LC 96-16572

From the Back Cover:

The blackface minstrel show occupies a central and contested space in the history of American popular culture. Its imitations and parodies helped shape society's perceptions of African Americans--and of women--and made their mark on national identity, policymaking decisions, and other entertainment forms such as vaudeville, burlesque, the revue, and, eventually, film, radio, and television. Gathered here are rare primary materials-- including firsthand accounts of minstrel shows, minstrelsy guides, jokes, sketches, and sheet music--and the best of contemporary scholarship.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0819563005
• ISBN 13: 9780819563002
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 324
• Editor: Bean Annemarie, Hatch James V., McNamara Brooks