Disintegrating the Musical - Black Performance and American Musical Film

"African American influence on American music is legendary, but not until Arthur Knight's "Disintegrating the Musical" have African American contributions to the Hollywood musical been put in the spotlight. Finally, we have a first-rate book offering a new slant on everything from blackface and Paul Robeson to the film version of" Porgy and Bess."--Rick Altman, University of Iowa

List of contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Disintegrating the Musical

1. Wearing and Tearing the Mask: Blacks on and in Blackface, Live

2. “Fool Acts”: Cinematic Conjunctions of White Blackface and Black Performance

3. Indefinite Talks: Blacks in Blackface, Filmed

4. Black Folk Sold: Hollywood’s Black-Cast Musicals

5. “Aping” Hollywood: Deformation and Mastery in The Duke is Tops and Swing!

6. Jammin’ the Blues: The Sight of Jazz

Coda: Bamboozled?

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the author

Arthur Knight is Associate Professor of American Studies and English at the College of William & Mary. He is coeditor of Soundtrack Available: Essays on Film and Popular Music, published by Duke University Press.

Summary

The history of African Americans in film musicals and their reception by Black audiences and critics.

Product details

• Authors: Arthur Knight, Knight, Arthur Knight
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 14.08.2002
• EAN: 9780822329350
• ISBN: 978-0-8223-2935-0
• No. of pages: 352
• Weight: 862 g
• Illustrations: 68 b&w photos, 5 figures
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet; Ethnic Studies, PERFORMING ARTS / Film & Video / History & Criticism, Music / Songbooks, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies