Beginning in the 1830s and continuing for more than a century, blackface minstrelsystage performances that claimed to represent the culture of black Americansremained arguably the most popular entertainment in North America. A renewed scholarly interest in this contentious form of entertainment has produced studies treating a range of issues: its contradictory depictions of class, race, and gender; its role in the development of racial stereotyping; and its legacy in humor, dance, and music, and in live performance, film, and television. The style and substance of minstrelsy persist in popular music, tap and hip-hop dance, the language of the standup comic, and everyday rituals of contemporary culture. The blackface makeup all but disappeared for a time, though its influence never diminishedand recently, even the makeup has been making a comeback.
Biografie
Stephen Johnson hat Musikwissenschaften studiert. Er schreibt regelmäßig für große britische Tageszeitungen (z.B. The Independent, The Guardian) und macht Sendungen für verschiedene Radioprogramme der BBC. Er ist Autor mehrerer Bücher.