Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 12:20:59 -0400
From: Alexander Winfield <sheepwpunks-AT-gmail.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Arizona video


On a tangential note to this forum, I should mention that the minstrel shows
become so popular that by the late 18th centuries they were appearing in
various forms in European theatrical traditions - there was, for example, a
'Jim Crow' character in the Punch and Judy plays for a time (taking the
place of the traditional servant character).  The minstrel tradition still
holds some influence over American popular culture, though this influence is
almost entirely unacknowledged and subversive. For example - the recent
'Transformers' movie features two robotic characters who speak in a
caricature of ghetto slang, are goofy clowns, follow around the main (white)
character, vaguely resemble monkeys and cannot read. This general stereotype
- the uneducated, ridiculous black servant - may have first been made really
popular in the minstrel shows. The Transformers example is not an isolated
one.
   It should be mentioned racist puppets are not restricted to Europe. I
remember seeing paper puppets of the 'Jew Pig' character, from Austria, I
think (have to check again). A puppet that is painted a pig one side, and
then when you flip him around he is a stereotyped jew. Puppets are tools,
and like all tools are slaves of their masters' cruelties.

yrs.

Alexander

On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 10:24 AM, Bell, John <john.bell-AT-uconn.edu> wrote:

> Greetings!
>
> As Alan Cook suggests, the history of minstrelsy is complicated, ambiguous,
> and contradictory.  Eric Lott points this out in his book "Love and Theft,"
> and academic studies in recent years have revealed ever more complex layers
> of race, gender, politics, and sexuality in minstrel show traditions.
>  However, I disagree with Alan about the history of the form as we know it.
>  Yes, the term "minstrel" has its roots in the 12th century word
> "menestral", meaning a servant or entertainer, but the term "minstrel show"
> and the everyday associations most people make with the term "minstrelsy"
> pertain to a tradition born in the 19th century in the U.S., in which white
> performers imitated black artists.  Stereotype and caricature were
> definitely essential to blackface minstrelsy, and the unequal power
> relationships of whites and blacks in the U.S. were played out in its
> performances.  Some black performers, as Alan points out, did eventually
> come to make a living from minstrelsy, but they had to do so by negotiating
> the tricky aesthetics of blacks imitating whites imitating blacks--in other
> words, as black performers they had to perform their versions of white
> stereotypes of blacks.
>  The situation of minstrel puppets is a huge and as yet unacknowledged and
> unanalyzed aspect of American puppetry--definitely worth more thoughts and
> words!  But I do feel that race and racism are at the heart of blackface
> minstrelsy and shouldn't be avoided, whether we are looking at performance
> with actors or performance with puppets.
>
> Dr. John T. Bell
> Director
> Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry
> University of Connecticut
> 6 Bourn Place Unit 5212
> Storrs, Connecticut  06269-5212
> office: 860 486 0806
> cell: 617 599 3250
> www.bimp.uconn.edu
>
> To make a contribution to the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry,
> please go to
> https://secure.ga4.org/01/uconn_foundation_giving, and select "Ballard
> Puppetry Museum" from the "Purpose" list.  Thanks for your support!
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: puptcrit-bounces-AT-puptcrit.org [mailto:puptcrit-bounces-AT-puptcrit.org]
> On Behalf Of Alan Cook
> Sent: Saturday, July 04, 2009 12:26 PM
> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Arizona video
>
> Looking at past expressions through contemporary lenses can be misleading.
>
> Minstrel Shows date back to the Middle Ages. So how did the term come to
> mean blackface performances, or Black- Performed shows. Was it always
> caricature? (NO). Did it provide a chance for Black Performers to make a
> living and have talent recognized? (YES).
>
> It is a MIXED BAG.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Rogers
> Sent: Saturday, July 4, 2009 8:56 AM
> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Subject: [Puptcrit] Arizona video
>
> It's amazing how many minstrel marionettes were made in the past.  Such a
> racial slur.  Then again, I grew up watching cartoons with "Joe Jitsu" and
> "Speedy Gonzales" and thought nothing of it.
>
> Good luck, Hobey, with the video.  Sounds great.
>
> Robert Rogers
>
> _______________________________________________
> List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
> Archives: http://www.driftline.org
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
> Archives: http://www.driftline.org
> _______________________________________________
> List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
> Archives: http://www.driftline.org
>
_______________________________________________
List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
Archives: http://www.driftline.org