Demons of Disorder
Early Blackface Minstrels and their World
Published on 28. July 1997
Book
Hardback
260 pages
978-0-521-56074-0 (ISBN)
Description
Carnival, charivari, mumming plays, peasant festivals, and even early versions of the Santa Claus myth - all of these forms of entertainment influenced and shaped blackface minstrelsy in the first half of the nineteenth century. In his fascinating study Demons of Disorder, musicologist Dale Cockrell studies issues of race and class by analysing their cultural expressions, and investigates the roots of still remembered songs such as 'Jim Crow', 'Zip Coon', and 'Dan Tucker'. Also examined is the character George Washington Dixon, the man most deserving of the title 'father of blackface minstrelsy' and surely one of celebrity's all-time heavyweight eccentrics - a bonafide 'demon of disorder'. The first book on the blackface tradition written by a leading musicologist, Demons of Disorder is an important achievement in music history and culture.
Reviews / Votes
"...merits the attention of students and scholars in theater, anthropology, law, and sociology, as well as music....Recommended for upper-division undergraduates through faculty." Choice "In this original and subtly written work, Cockrell demonstrates the value of a focused analysis of minstrlsy in a particular time and place--an approach that stands to enhance the study of all periods of minstrel history. Demons of Disorder offers an important corrective to postmodernist scholarship in asserting that understanding cultural meanings requires not simply theoretical speculation but careful examination of the historical record." Howard L. Sacks, American Music "...required reading for anyone wishing to grasp the depth of meaning and the range of opinion on blackface minstrelsy." Brian Thompson, Notes "This book, which unpacks so much about the phenomenon clearly and provocatively, deserves our close attention." Ethnomusicology "...a highly creative study of blackface minstrelsy, adds to an already impressive literature on the subject." Journal of Social HistoryMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
10 Halftones, unspecified; 6 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
577 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-56074-0 (9780521560740)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
07/1997
Cambridge University Press
€48.90
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Content
1. Blackface on the early American stage; 2. Blackface in the streets; 3. Jim Crow; 4. Zip Coon; 5. Old Dan Tucker.