Oriental, Black, and White

In this book, Josephine Lee looks at the intertwined racial representations of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American theater. In minstrelsy, melodrama, vaudeville, and musicals, both white and African American performers enacted blackface characterizations alongside oriental stereotypes o...

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author Lee, Josephine
author_browse Lee, Josephine
author_facet Lee, Josephine
author_sort Lee, Josephine
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description In this book, Josephine Lee looks at the intertwined racial representations of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American theater. In minstrelsy, melodrama, vaudeville, and musicals, both white and African American performers enacted blackface characterizations alongside oriental stereotypes of opulence and deception, comic servitude, and exotic sexuality. Lee shows how blackface types were often associated with working-class masculinity and the development of a nativist white racial identity for European immigrants, while the oriental marked what was culturally coded as foreign, feminized, and ornamental. These conflicting racial connotations were often intermingled in actual stage performance, as stage productions contrasted nostalgic characterizations of plantation slavery with the figures of the despotic sultan, the seductive dancing girl, and the comic Chinese laundryman. African American performers also performed common oriental themes and characterizations, repurposing them for their own commentary on Black racial progress and aspiration. The juxtaposition of orientalism and black figuration became standard fare for American theatergoers at a historical moment in which the color line was rigidly policed. These interlocking cross-racial impersonations offer fascinating insights into habits of racial representation both inside and outside the theater.
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publisher The University of North Carolina Press
publisherStr The University of North Carolina Press
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1217762025-03-20T20:45:55Z Oriental, Black, and White Lee, Josephine Cross-racial performance blackface minstrelsy yellowface American orientalism racial stereotypes all-Black musical nineteenth-century American theater racial habit Aladdin Shuffle Along Ira Aldridge Japanese Tommy Bert Williams George Walker In Dahomey Abyssinia Aida Overton Walker Salome Chinese laundry representations of the Philippine-American War Flower Drum Song Juanita Long Hall Princess Sotanki Sissieretta Jones Afro-Asian chop suey In this book, Josephine Lee looks at the intertwined racial representations of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American theater. In minstrelsy, melodrama, vaudeville, and musicals, both white and African American performers enacted blackface characterizations alongside oriental stereotypes of opulence and deception, comic servitude, and exotic sexuality. Lee shows how blackface types were often associated with working-class masculinity and the development of a nativist white racial identity for European immigrants, while the oriental marked what was culturally coded as foreign, feminized, and ornamental. These conflicting racial connotations were often intermingled in actual stage performance, as stage productions contrasted nostalgic characterizations of plantation slavery with the figures of the despotic sultan, the seductive dancing girl, and the comic Chinese laundryman. African American performers also performed common oriental themes and characterizations, repurposing them for their own commentary on Black racial progress and aspiration. The juxtaposition of orientalism and black figuration became standard fare for American theatergoers at a historical moment in which the color line was rigidly policed. These interlocking cross-racial impersonations offer fascinating insights into habits of racial representation both inside and outside the theater. 2023-11-17T08:37:37Z 2023-11-17T08:37:37Z 2023-10-04T14:18:17Z 2022 book ONIX_20231004_9798890862211_5 ONIX_20231004_9798890862211_5 OCN: 1345459630 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/76553 9798890862211 9781469669618 9781469669625 9781469669632 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/121776 eng open access image/png image/png image/png image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/76553/2/9781469669632.epub https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/76553/2/9781469669632.epub https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/76553/2/9781469669632.epub https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/76553/1/9798890862211.pdf The University of North Carolina Press The University of North Carolina Press 10.5149/9781469669632_Lee 10.5149/9781469669632_Lee f46e5319-8d09-4c63-b9f2-a13480694ab4 Emory University Andrew W. Mellon Foundation dd4740d0-d770-4a4c-b4e8-54e513782c6e 9798890862211 9781469669618 9781469669625 9781469669632 Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME) The University of North Carolina Press 344 Chapel Hill [...] open access
spellingShingle Cross-racial performance
blackface minstrelsy
yellowface
American orientalism
racial stereotypes
all-Black musical
nineteenth-century American theater
racial habit
Aladdin
Shuffle Along
Ira Aldridge
Japanese Tommy
Bert Williams
George Walker
In Dahomey
Abyssinia
Aida Overton Walker
Salome
Chinese laundry
representations of the Philippine-American War
Flower Drum Song
Juanita Long Hall
Princess Sotanki
Sissieretta Jones
Afro-Asian
chop suey
Lee, Josephine
Oriental, Black, and White
title Oriental, Black, and White
title_full Oriental, Black, and White
title_fullStr Oriental, Black, and White
title_full_unstemmed Oriental, Black, and White
title_short Oriental, Black, and White
title_sort oriental black and white
topic Cross-racial performance
blackface minstrelsy
yellowface
American orientalism
racial stereotypes
all-Black musical
nineteenth-century American theater
racial habit
Aladdin
Shuffle Along
Ira Aldridge
Japanese Tommy
Bert Williams
George Walker
In Dahomey
Abyssinia
Aida Overton Walker
Salome
Chinese laundry
representations of the Philippine-American War
Flower Drum Song
Juanita Long Hall
Princess Sotanki
Sissieretta Jones
Afro-Asian
chop suey
topic_facet Cross-racial performance
blackface minstrelsy
yellowface
American orientalism
racial stereotypes
all-Black musical
nineteenth-century American theater
racial habit
Aladdin
Shuffle Along
Ira Aldridge
Japanese Tommy
Bert Williams
George Walker
In Dahomey
Abyssinia
Aida Overton Walker
Salome
Chinese laundry
representations of the Philippine-American War
Flower Drum Song
Juanita Long Hall
Princess Sotanki
Sissieretta Jones
Afro-Asian
chop suey
url ONIX_20231004_9798890862211_5
work_keys_str_mv AT leejosephine orientalblackandwhite