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Shakespeare, Race and Minstrelsy in Nineteenth Century America / OONA CRAWFORD

Swansea University Author: OONA CRAWFORD

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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.64625

Abstract

This thesis explores the interface between Shakespeare and Blackface Minstrelsy in Nineteenth-Century America. Critics such as Eric Lott have noted the often mutually contradictory intentions and effects of blackface minstrelsy. For some it offered a racist lampooning of African Americans, while for...

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Published: Swansea, Wales, UK 2023
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Williams, Daniel G. and Farebrother, Rachel.
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64625
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first_indexed 2023-10-18T10:36:09Z
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spelling v2 64625 2023-09-27 Shakespeare, Race and Minstrelsy in Nineteenth Century America c0e4ca2f5f487b92f97bafa91b3a325d OONA CRAWFORD OONA CRAWFORD true false 2023-09-27 This thesis explores the interface between Shakespeare and Blackface Minstrelsy in Nineteenth-Century America. Critics such as Eric Lott have noted the often mutually contradictory intentions and effects of blackface minstrelsy. For some it offered a racist lampooning of African Americans, while for others it broke the boundaries between black and white and could even be embraced as part of the anti-slavery cause. The myriad minstrel performances of Shakespeare’s plays seem to intensify this tension. Some felt that Shakespeare - a symbol of ‘Anglo-Saxon’ superiority – was debased when performed in a ‘Black’ voice. Others welcomed the ways in which minstrel performances undermined English hegemony at a time when America was declaring its cultural independence. Thus, a ‘highbrow’ attempt to adopt and adapt Shakespeare as part of a project to define the parameters of a white American cultural identity in the antebellum era was countered on the minstrel stage by the blackface burlesques which were immensely popular across the whole social spectrum. Drawing on commentaries by an array of writers, from the anti-slavery orator Frederick Douglass to the author and essayist Ralph Ellison, this thesis argues that a common cultural nationalist patriotism was shared by both the minstrel stage and the literary elite. Beginning with an analysis of the legitimate stage and minstrel adaptations of Shakespeare in nineteenth century America, the thesis proceeds to explore the presence and influence of Shakespeare and blackface minstrelsy in the works of canonical American authors. A series of distinct, by thematically related chapters, discuss the ways in which Harriet Beecher Stowe, Herman Melville and Mark Twain can be read in terms of this tension between highbrow and lowbrow articulations of an ‘Americanness’ in formation. The thesis foregrounds the ways in which these authors drew on Shakespeare and on minstrel conventions of masking and subversion in their novels. It is suggested that a study of the clash of the disparate and disguised voices within Shakespeare’s plays and the melodramatic excess of the blackface minstrel shows allows us to explore the contested political forces at work in nineteenth century United States in new and revealing ways. E-Thesis Swansea, Wales, UK Race, Minstrelsy, Shakespeare, Nineteenth Century American Literature 31 7 2023 2023-07-31 10.23889/SUthesis.64625 A selection of third party content is redacted or is partially redacted from this thesis due to copyright restrictions. COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Williams, Daniel G. and Farebrother, Rachel. Doctoral Ph.D 2024-04-22T14:43:32.2562117 2023-09-27T11:02:49.9244177 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing OONA CRAWFORD 1 64625__28818__0ca0ec2874c94c55920acd7c073dabd9.pdf 2023_Crawford_O.final.64625.pdf 2023-10-18T11:34:56.7998414 Output 4230133 application/pdf E-Thesis true Copyright: The Author, Oona Crawford, 2023. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
title Shakespeare, Race and Minstrelsy in Nineteenth Century America
spellingShingle Shakespeare, Race and Minstrelsy in Nineteenth Century America
OONA CRAWFORD
title_short Shakespeare, Race and Minstrelsy in Nineteenth Century America
title_full Shakespeare, Race and Minstrelsy in Nineteenth Century America
title_fullStr Shakespeare, Race and Minstrelsy in Nineteenth Century America
title_full_unstemmed Shakespeare, Race and Minstrelsy in Nineteenth Century America
title_sort Shakespeare, Race and Minstrelsy in Nineteenth Century America
author_id_str_mv c0e4ca2f5f487b92f97bafa91b3a325d
author_id_fullname_str_mv c0e4ca2f5f487b92f97bafa91b3a325d_***_OONA CRAWFORD
author OONA CRAWFORD
author2 OONA CRAWFORD
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publishDate 2023
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUthesis.64625
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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description This thesis explores the interface between Shakespeare and Blackface Minstrelsy in Nineteenth-Century America. Critics such as Eric Lott have noted the often mutually contradictory intentions and effects of blackface minstrelsy. For some it offered a racist lampooning of African Americans, while for others it broke the boundaries between black and white and could even be embraced as part of the anti-slavery cause. The myriad minstrel performances of Shakespeare’s plays seem to intensify this tension. Some felt that Shakespeare - a symbol of ‘Anglo-Saxon’ superiority – was debased when performed in a ‘Black’ voice. Others welcomed the ways in which minstrel performances undermined English hegemony at a time when America was declaring its cultural independence. Thus, a ‘highbrow’ attempt to adopt and adapt Shakespeare as part of a project to define the parameters of a white American cultural identity in the antebellum era was countered on the minstrel stage by the blackface burlesques which were immensely popular across the whole social spectrum. Drawing on commentaries by an array of writers, from the anti-slavery orator Frederick Douglass to the author and essayist Ralph Ellison, this thesis argues that a common cultural nationalist patriotism was shared by both the minstrel stage and the literary elite. Beginning with an analysis of the legitimate stage and minstrel adaptations of Shakespeare in nineteenth century America, the thesis proceeds to explore the presence and influence of Shakespeare and blackface minstrelsy in the works of canonical American authors. A series of distinct, by thematically related chapters, discuss the ways in which Harriet Beecher Stowe, Herman Melville and Mark Twain can be read in terms of this tension between highbrow and lowbrow articulations of an ‘Americanness’ in formation. The thesis foregrounds the ways in which these authors drew on Shakespeare and on minstrel conventions of masking and subversion in their novels. It is suggested that a study of the clash of the disparate and disguised voices within Shakespeare’s plays and the melodramatic excess of the blackface minstrel shows allows us to explore the contested political forces at work in nineteenth century United States in new and revealing ways.
published_date 2023-07-31T14:43:28Z
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