| Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop Contributor(s): Taylor, Yuval (Author), Austen, Jake (Author), Watkins, Mel (Foreword by) |
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ISBN: 0393070980 ISBN-13: 9780393070989 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company OUR PRICE: $24.26 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 2012 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Performing Arts | Theater - History & Criticism - Performing Arts | Television - History & Criticism |
| Dewey: 791.120 |
| LCCN: 2012007307 |
| Physical Information: 1.3" H x 5.6" W x 8.3" (0.95 lbs) 368 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - African American - Topical - Black History |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Yuval Taylor and Jake Austen investigate the complex history of black minstrelsy, adopted in the mid-nineteenth century by African American performers who played the grinning blackface fool to entertain black and white audiences. We now consider minstrelsy an embarrassing relic, but once blacks and whites alike saw it as a black art form--and embraced it as such. And, as the authors reveal, black minstrelsy remains deeply relevant to popular black entertainment, particularly in the work of contemporary artists like Dave Chappelle, Flavor Flav, Spike Lee, and Lil Wayne. Darkest America explores the origins, heyday, and present-day manifestations of this tradition, exploding the myth that it was a form of entertainment that whites foisted on blacks, and shining a sure-to-be controversial light on how these incendiary performances can be not only demeaning but also, paradoxically, liberating. |
Contributor Bio(s): Taylor, Yuval: - Yuval Taylor, senior editor at Chicago Review Press, is the author of Zora and Langston: A Story of Friendship and Betrayal and coauthor of Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop and Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music. He has edited three volumes of African American slave narratives, and his writings have appeared in The Antioch Review, The Guardian, and other publications. He lives in Chicago.Austen, Jake: - Jake Austen is the editor of Roctober magazine, He lives in Chicago, Illinois. |