The Racial Ruse
On Blackness and Blackface Comedy in fin‐de‐siècle Germany
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20656204 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jonathan Wipplinger (North Carolina State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 84 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 457-476 |
| Publication date | 2011-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The German Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-8831 • E-ISSN: 1756-1183 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1756-1183.2011.00127.x |
| OpenAlex | W2027835609 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 13 |
This article explores the role of blackface minstrelsy within German culture at the turn of the twentieth century. I argue that blackface's presence in the colonial and global world of the fin de siècle had the effect of forcing a reevaluation and reinterpretation of the very notion of what it meant to be German in modernity. I trace the construction of blackface as a racial ruse within a discursive nexus of psychology, comic theory, and mass culture. After developing a theoretical model for the German reception of blackface, I discuss the function of blackness and blackface within comic theory, in particular the writings of Theodor Lipps and Emile Kraepelin. I then look at how blackness and blackface “comedy” were taken up in the literary realm by Oskar Panizza, whose texts of the 1890s elevate race and racial masquerade to essential components of modern culture. Finally, I conclude by suggesting some ways in which my reading of blackface remains relevant for thinking about race and blackness in Germany today
Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Ballet · Blackface · Comedy · Comics · Dance · Dandy · Foregrounding · German · Linguistics · Literature · Reinterpretation · German Colonialism and Identity Studies · German Literature and Culture Studies · Humor Studies and Applications · Philosophy
Bibliography of Books and Articles Published in English on Colonialism and Imperialism in 2011
Survey Essay 1. Periodizing and Historicizing German Afro-Americanophilia
Singing the Civilizing Mission in the Land of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms
Performing Lieder, Hearing Race
Defending Black Pete
Performativity and representation in transnational blackface
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.43 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2019 (8) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |