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 todays mass media performances and depictions of African Americans are so very far removed from their troublesome roots.
#2147682 in eBooks 2014-04-25 2014-04-25File Name: B00MN97AT0
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. If youve read one; youve read them allBy melendezAs a Staten Island native; Im a big New Yorker fan; but these rejection collection books are all the same. I have 2 and the only differences are the covers and the idiotic QAs with the cartoonists. The 2 books I have contain the exact same cartoons; there were only 3 in this book that were not the other. Save your money; you only need to buy one unless you care about what the cartoonists have to say.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Dont But This Cheap EditionBy Avid ReaderIve enjoyed the various editions of the Rejection Collection for years and often give the as gifts. As such; I have ordered many copies over the years and I like to get the hard cover version as gifts. This is hard cover but the quality of the pages is terrible and cheap. Its not the coated high-quality sheets of paper that have been used in other editions. This is thin; rag-like paper that shows the print through on the back of each page. Feels really cheap. I would never give a book like this as a gift. Find another edition.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Two StarsBy Randy BrownThe other issues are better.
