Scandalize my name : Black imagery in American popular music / Sam Dennison.
| Author/creator | Dennison, Sam |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | New York : Garland Publishing, 1981. |
| Description | xxiii, 594 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Series | Critical studies on Black life and culture ; v. 13 Critical studies on Black life and culture ; v. 13. ^A247501 |
| Contents | Preface -- Acknowledgements -- The beginnings -- Antecedents of the minstrel show -- The minstrel show -- The abolition movement versus minstrelsy -- Civil War -- From reconstruction to the 1880's -- The pseudo-spiritual -- From the gay nineties through the First World War -- From the 1920's to World War II -- Executive Order 8802 and after -- Appendix I: Charles Mathews and American minstrelsy -- Appendix II: Method. |
| Abstract | This book investigates racism as it appears in American popular songs featuring black subjects. It is not a study of black music, but a study of the black person as they appear in music throughout American history. The black theme in American popular music reflected generally accepted stereotypes associated with blacks. Only rarely did the black image in song exhibit desirable qualities until the decades following World War II. Significantly, the production of songs on the black subject decreased during the same period. A central theme of songs about the black concerns the myth of the happy, indolent slave, bound to his master by strong ties of devotion--something of an Uncle Tom. The black in song was portrayed as thieving, lying, lazy, hopelessly addicted to gambling and gluttony. His woman, the Negress, was seen as a shrew and a wanton: a female possessed of few desirable traits who yet remained somehow an irresistible sex object to males. The vast numbers of songs on the black subject, and their endurance as a genre, bespeak a considerable influence in the formation of racial attitudes in the collective American mind. This book is devoted to social, political, psychological, economic, and musical ramifications bearing on the black theme in American popular song throughout its history. Within this context, the songs can be seen as a means by which popular attitudes can be revealed and traced to their roots, providing insights into force which guided American attitudes to their present state. |
| General note | Illustrations comprised chiefly of sheet music cover facsimiles. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliography (pages 553-566) and indexes. |
| LCCN | 80009027 |
| ISBN | 0824093097 : |
| ISBN | 9780824093099 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML3556.D448 S3 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |