Racechanges: White Skin, Black Face in American Culture (Race and American Culture)

when The Actor Ted Danson Appeared In Blackface At A 1993 Friars Club Roast, He Ignited A Firestorm Of Protest That Landed Him On The Front Pages Of The Newspapers, Rebuked By Everyone From Talk Show Host Montel Williams To New York City's Then Mayor, David Dinkins. Danson's Use Of Blackface Was Shocking, But Was The Furious Pitch Of The Response A Triumphant Indication Of How Far Society Has Progressed Since The Days When Blackface Performers Were The Toast Of Vaudeville, Or Was It Also An Uncomfortable Reminder Of How Deep The Chasm Still Is Separating Black And White America? In racechanges: White Skin, Black Face In American Culture , Susan Gubar, Who Fundamentally Changed The Way We Think About Women's Literature As Co-author Of The Acclaimed the Madwoman In The Attic , Turns Her Attention To The Incendiary Issue Of Race. Through A Far-reaching Exploration Of The Long Overlooked Legacy Of Minstrelsy—cross-racial Impersonations Or Racechanges—throughout Modern American Film, Fiction, Poetry, Painting, Photography, And Journalism, She Documents The Indebtedness Of Mainstream Artists To African-american Culture, And Explores The Deeply Conflicted Psychology Of White Guilt. The Fascinating Racechanges Gubar Discusses Include Whites Posing As Blacks And Blacks Passing For White; Blackface On White Actors In the Jazz Singer, Birth Of A Nation , And Other Movies, As Well As On The Faces Of Black Stage Entertainers; African-american Deployment Of Racechange Imagery During The Harlem Renaissance, Including The Poetry Of Anne Spencer, The Black-and-white Prints Of Richard Bruce Nugent, And The Early Work Of Zora Neale Hurston; White Poets And Novelists From Vachel Lindsay And Gertrude Stein To John Berryman And William Faulkner Writing As If They Were Black; White Artists And Writers Fascinated By Hypersexualized Stereotypes Of Black Men; And Nightmares And Visions Of The Racechanged Baby. Gubar Shows That Unlike African-americans, Who Often Are Forced To Adopt White Masks To Gain Their Rights, White People Have Chosen Racial Masquerades, Which Range From Mockery And Mimicry To An Evolving Emphasis On Inter-racial Mutuality And Mutability. Drawing On A Stunning Array Of Illustrations, Including Paintings, Film Stills, Computer Graphics, And Even Magazine Morphings, racechanges Sheds New Light On The Persistent Pervasiveness Of Racism And Exciting Aesthetic Possibilities For Lessening The Distance Between Blacks And Whites. kirkus Reviews synthesizing The Remarkable Work Over The Last 15 Years Of Scores Of Cultural Historians, Theorists, And Critics Who Have Been Engaged In Documenting And Analyzing The Ubiquitous Legacy Of Blackface Minstrelsy And Racial Posing In 20th-century American Culture, Gubar Has Assembled A Comprehensive Catalog Of Cross-racial Iconography. the Paradox That Despite Our Preoccupations With Social Divisions By Race, The Identities And Psychologies Of Black And White Americans Are Inextricably Interdependent Is Nowhere More Evident Than In Modern Popular Culture. Gubar, Coauthor With Sandra Gilbert Of A Groundbreaking Work Of Feminist Literary Criticism, The Madwoman In The Attic (1979), Examines The Pervasive Role Of Cross-racial Impersonation In The Development Of American Melodrama (beginning With Uncle Tom's Cabin) And Musical Theater, Motion Pictures (d.w. Griffith's Birth Of A Nation And Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer), Popular Radio Shows (amos 'n' Andy), And New Journalism (john Howard Griffith's 1960 Study Black Like Me), As Well As In European Experimental Literature, Painting, And Photography. She Also Clearly Identifies The Ethical Issue At The Center: How Can White People Understand Or Sympathize With African-americans Without Distorting Or Usurping Their Perspective? Of Course, Who Is The Subject And The Object Of The Gaze Has A Great Deal To Do With Whether The Act Of Racechange Is Transgressive Or Regressive, But There Are Persistent Ambiguities In The Act. Gubar Appreciates And Articulates Multilayered Complexities And Ironies That Evolve Along With American Cultural Expression, Although Occasionally She Comes Up With An Interpretation That Seems Overdetermined. Gubar Addresses The Major Issue Of Why Potentially Liberating Acts Of Racial Masquerade So Often End Up Serving Racist Ends And Are Only Now Being Used To Envision Postracist Ways Of Being And Seeing. This Is An Important Book For The Way It Highlights An Active But Underacknowledged Field Of Cultural Inquiry, And A Study Bound To Prompt Further Debate. When the actor Ted Danson appeared in blackface at a 1993 Friars Club roast, he ignited a firestorm of protest that landed him on the front pages of the newspapers, rebuked by everyone from talk show host Montel Williams to New York City's then mayor, David Dinkins. Danson's use of blackface was shocking, but was the furious pitch of the response a triumphant indication of how far society has progressed since the days when blackface performers were the toast of vaudeville, or was it also an uncomfortable reminder of how deep the chasm still is separating black and white America?In Racechanges: White Skin, Black Face in American Culture, Susan Gubar, who fundamentally changed the way we think about women's literature as co-author of the acclaimed The Madwoman in the Attic, turns her attention to the incendiary issue of race. Through a far-reaching exploration of the long overlooked legacy of minstrelsy--cross-racial impersonations or "racechanges"--throughout modern American film, fiction, poetry, painting, photography, and journalism, she documents the indebtedness of "mainstream" artists to African-American culture, and explores the deeply conflicted psychology of white guilt. The fascinating "racechanges" Gubar discusses include whites posing as blacks and blacks "passing" for white; blackface on white actors in The Jazz Singer, Birth of a Nation, and other movies, as well as on the faces of black stage entertainers; African-American deployment of racechange imagery during the Harlem Renaissance, including the poetry of Anne Spencer, the black-and-white prints of Richard Bruce Nugent, and the early work of Zora Neale Hurston; white poets and novelists from Vachel Lindsay and Gertrude Stein to John Berryman and William Faulkner writing as if they were black; white artists and writers fascinated by hypersexualized stereotypes of black men; and nightmares and visions of the racechanged baby. Gubar shows that unlike African-Americans, who often are forced to adopt white masks to gain their rights, white people have chosen racial masquerades, which range from mockery and mimicry to an evolving emphasis on inter-racial mutuality and mutability.Drawing on a stunning array of illustrations, including paintings, film stills, computer graphics, and even magazine morphings, Racechanges sheds new light on the persistent pervasiveness of racism and exciting aesthetic possibilities for lessening the distance between blacks and whites. CONTENTS......Page 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS......Page 10 PREFACE......Page 14 1. ADVENTURES IN THE SKIN TRADE......Page 28 2. SPIRIT-MURDER AT THE MOVIES: Blackface Lynchings......Page 78 3. MAKING WHITE, BECOMING BLACK: Myths of Racial Origin in the Harlem Renaissance......Page 120 4. DE MODERN DO MR. BONES (and All That Ventriloquist Jazz)......Page 159 5. PSYCHOPATHOLOGIES OF BLACK ENVY: Queer Colors......Page 198 6. WHAT WILL THE MIXED CHILD DELIVER? Conceiving Color Without Race......Page 232 7. THE EDIBLE COMPLEX: A Postscript......Page 269 NOTES......Page 292 WORKS CITED......Page 322 B......Page 342 C......Page 344 D......Page 345 F......Page 346 H......Page 347 J......Page 348 M......Page 349 O......Page 351 P......Page 352 S......Page 353 W......Page 355 Z......Page 356 CONTENTS 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 10 PREFACE 14 1. ADVENTURES IN THE SKIN TRADE 28 2. SPIRIT-MURDER AT THE MOVIES: Blackface Lynchings 78 3. MAKING WHITE, BECOMING BLACK: Myths of Racial Origin in the Harlem Renaissance 120 4. DE MODERN DO MR. BONES (and All That Ventriloquist Jazz) 159 5. PSYCHOPATHOLOGIES OF BLACK ENVY: Queer Colors 198 6. WHAT WILL THE MIXED CHILD DELIVER? Conceiving Color Without Race 232 7. THE EDIBLE COMPLEX: A Postscript 269 NOTES 292 WORKS CITED 322 INDEX 342 A 342 B 342 C 344 D 345 E 346 F 346 G 347 H 347 I 348 J 348 K 349 L 349 M 349 N 351 O 351 P 352 Q 353 R 353 S 353 T 355 U 355 V 355 W 355 Y 356 Z 356 In Racechanges: White Skin, Black Face in American Culture, Susan Gubar, who fundamentally changed the way we think about women's literature as co-author of the acclaimed The Madwoman in the Attic, turns her attention to the incendiary issue of race. Through a far-reaching exploration of the long overlooked legacy of minstrelsy -- cross-racial impersonations or "racechanges" -- throughout modern American film, fiction, poetry, painting, photography, and journalism, she documents the indebtedness of "mainstream" artists to African-American culture, and explores the deeply conflicted psychology of white guilt.