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BURNT CORK: TRADITIONS AND LEGACIES OF BLACKFACE MINSTRELSY. Edited by Stephen Johnson. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2012; pp. 304.
In his introduction, editor Stephen Johnson argues that blackface has never completely disappeared from the American imaginary, and the eight essays that comprise this volume aim to explore "contemporary manipulations and negotiations [of] race" through the legacies of the mask (15). With essays by some of the most renowned scholars working in the field, several of them continuing work begun elsewhere, Burnt Cork articulates various "critical-historical context[s]" of blackface through a diverse range of methodologies and case studies. This approach rightly mirrors the "complexity of intention and reception in blackface performance," a complexity that "builds up in layers over time, adding radical meaning to the accepted imagery without entirely erasing the old . . . accumulating ways of reading blackface" (3). Each contributor explores these accumulations of meaning from a distinct discipline, such as the labor practices of the burgeoning animation industry during the 1930s and the study of blackface beyond US borders. As a result, the volume exemplifies the rich possibili - ties of considering the legacies of blackface beyond the minstrel stage, making it a valuable addition to the field of blackface studies.
The essays are arranged in chronological order, beginning with the early days of blackface performances of T. D. Rice in the 1830s and concluding with "ghetto parties" on US college campuses in 2010. This arrangement allows the essays not only to build on the layers of prior scholarship on...