Coloring whiteness : acts of critique in Black performance / Faedra Chatard Carpenter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carpenter, Faedra Chatard.

Contributor:

Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), publisher.

Series:

Theater--text/theory/performance

Theater: theory/text/performance

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American theater--History--20th century.

African American theater.

African Americans--Race identity.

African Americans.

White people--Race identity.

White people.

African Americans in the performing arts.

Race relations.

History.

United States--Race relations--20th century.

United States.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2014]

System Details:

text file

Summary:

"Coloring Whiteness pays homage to the ways that African American artists and performers have interrogated tropes and mythologies of whiteness to reveal racial inequalities, focusing on comedy sketches, street theater, visual art, video, TV journalism, and voice-over work since 1964. By investigating enactments of whiteness--from the use of white makeup and suggestive masks, to literary motifs and cultural narratives regarding "white" characteristics and qualities--Faedra Chatard Carpenter explores how artists have challenged commonly held notions of racial identity. Through its layered study of expressive culture, her book considers how artistic and performance strategies are used to "color" whiteness and complicate blackness in our contemporary moment. Utilizing theories of performance and critical race studies, Coloring Whiteness is also propelled by Carpenter's dramaturgical sensibilities. Her analysis of primary performance texts is informed not only by traditional print and visual materials, but also by her interviews with African American theater artists, visual artists, and cultural critics. The book is an invaluable contribution to the fields of theater and performance studies, African American studies, cultural studies, critical race studies, and American studies"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Douglas Turner Ward's Play on Whiteness; Day of Absence on America's Public Stages 30

Chapter 2 Staging Hegemonic Whiteness: The Bluest Eye and the Performative Paradoxes of (In)visibility 80

Chapter 3 Whiteness as "Becoming": The Corporeal Crossovers of Daniel Tisdale and Michael Jackson 117

Chapter 4 "Mixing It Up": Enacting Whiteness in the Comedic World of Dave Chappelle 161

Chapter 5 "Sounding Off on Sounding White": Aural Whiteness, Linguistic Whiteface, and the Economics of Opportunity 194.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-292) and index.

Description based on information from the publisher.

ISBN:

9780472072361

9780472052363

9780472120659

Publisher Number:

10.3998/mpub.5262413

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.