In this ambitious project; historian Katrina Thompson examines the conceptualization and staging of race through the performance; sometimes coerced; of black dance from the slave ship to the minstrel stage. Drawing on a rich variety of sources; Thompson explicates how black musical performance was used by white Europeans and Americans to justify enslavement; perpetuate the existing racial hierarchy; and mask the brutality of the domestic slave trade. Whether on slave ships; at the auction block; or on plantations; whites often used coerced performances to oppress and demean the enslaved. As Thompson shows; however; blacks' "backstage" use of musical performance often served quite a different purpose. Through creolization and other means; enslaved people preserved some native musical and dance traditions and invented or adopted new traditions that built community and even aided rebellion. Thompson shows how these traditions evolved into nineteenth-century minstrelsy and; ultimately; raises the question of whether today's mass media performances and depictions of African Americans are so very far removed from their troublesome roots.
#1983989 in Books 2006-07-11Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .80 x 6.00l; .98 #File Name: 0252073150264 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Creech contributes to the religious turn in history by showing ...By gld_9Creech contributes to the religious turn in history by showing how religion mattered to late 19th century labor; racial; and populist grassroots politics.
