Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. [Vol. 3.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 23)

STUDIES - Gabriella Varró: The Theme of Comic Love in Blackface Minstrelsy: The Anatomy of the Grotesque

GABRIELLA VARRÓ THE THEME OF COMIC LOVE IN BLACKFACE MINSTRELSY: THE ANATOMY OF THE GROTESQUE The past thirty or so years have seen a considerable upsurge in blackface minstrelsy's criticism. A lot of scholarly attention has been devoted to contemplating various aspects (racial, class, gender, political, cultural, etc.) connected with this once popular and influential form of the American theater. Among the most frequently debated issues is the racial aspect of minstrelsy, which also appears to be the major source of its recent appeal. This has resulted in a relative neglect of aesthetic considerations, which, however, should not be divorced from the concomitant issues of race, class, and gender. Thus it was inevitable that while attending to the central problems of race and class in early blackface, recent critics of minstrelsy should also touch upon aesthetic aspects such as mimicry (Berndt Ostendorf), misrepresentation (Sam Dennison, Robert Toll), counterfeit (Eric Lott), as well as the related issues of burlesque, travesty and parody. As a result, a whole spate of aesthetic terminology has by now sprung up with no one volunteering to sort out the various categories, or interpret them with regard to their special relevance in minstrelsy. The present study is intended as a preliminary attempt to reflect upon the complexity of aesthetic inquiries into minstrelsy, and it will also chart out options for further research along these lines. 87