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New book examines Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain
Posted on 28/12/08
New book examines Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain
A new book that explores the history and culture of minstrelsy in Britain has been published by a Loughborough University expert.
Blackface minstrelsy is associated particularly with popular culture in the United States and Britain, and yet despite the continual two-way flow of performers, troupes and companies across the Atlantic, there is little in Britain to match the scholarship of blackface studies in the States.
In his book Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain, Michael Pickering, Professor of Media and Cultural Analysis, provides a convincing counter-argument to the assumption among writers in the United States that blackface was exclusively American and its British counterpart purely imitative.
The historical study and cultural analysis of minstrelsy is important because of the significant role it played in Britain as a form of song, music and theatrical entertainment, says Professor Pickering. Minstrelsy had a marked impact on popular music, dance and other aspects of popular culture, both in Britain and the United States. Its impact in the United States fed into significant song and music genres that were assimilated in Britain, from ragtime and jazz onwards, but prior to these influences, minstrelsy in Britain developed many distinct features and was adapted to operate within various conventions, themes and traditions in British popular culture.
Minstrelsy was not confined to its value as song, music and dance, however jokes at the expense of black people along with demeaning racial stereotypes were integral to minstrel shows. As a form of popular entertainment, British minstrelsy created a cultural low that offered confirmation of white racial ascendancy and imperial dominion around the world. In his book Professor Pickering examines how this influence on colonialism and imperialism operated and proved ideologically so effective.
However, Professor Pickering also says British minstrelsy should not be reduced just to its racist and imperialist connections. Enormously important as those connections are, its a very complex subject, he says. The minstrel show and minstrel performers also need to be recognised in terms of their own theatrical dynamics, talent and appeal.
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