Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 8. Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 28)

Studies - Gabriella Varró: The Adventures of the Minstrel Sign in Mark Twain 's Huckleberry Finn

believed to have found the genuinely American cultural idiom and diction in the minstrel tradition, on the basis of which he considered the formation of national identity and consciousness feasible. It is a different matter, however, that this form of popular theatre appeared in a racist mould (where Negroes were deliberately humiliated and subjugated) at least according to traditional interpretations, similarly to the southwestern branch of national humor popularized by Twain, that also abounded in jokes at the black man's expense. Minstrel shows frequently used the elements of regional humor as their source material, and the genres of southwestern humor also oftentimes surfaced in minstrel programs. Among the characteristic features of southwestern humor were "incongruity, gross exaggeration, understatement, caricature, anecdotes" (Bell 129), tall tales and further elements, which came to be part of the aesthetic apparatus applied in the portrayal of black people when transferred into the minstrel shows. These facts by themselves, however, do not prove,

—what is nonetheless affirmed by many critics

—, that Twain turned to the minstrel tradition exclusively because of its racist charge. It is altogether more likely that Twain was driven to the blackface show primarily because it meant for him the first originally American popular tradition (irrespective of the image it drew of blacks), and this very well matched the writer's cultural mission. An additional factor worth mentioning here is that liberating, inter-ethnic aspect of the minstrel show which is being described in minstrelsy criticism only recently

—and in its core also appearing in Twain's art

—, and which might lead to reinterpretations regarding the former, exclusively condemnatory evaluations of the shows. The second element that may have played a part in Twain's patronage of the minstrel theatre throughout his life was his upbringing. In the Autobiography Twain mentions the fact that since in the region where he grew up there were no stories of atrocities involving slaves, he received no input from his immediate surroundings that could have suggested even in the smallest degree the necessary rejection of slavery. This paternalistic attitude and the similarly pseudo-benevolent attitude revealed on the minstrel stages with respect to the social position of blacks show many similarities. "[...] [Tjhere was nothing about the slavery of the Hannibal region to 264