Matthew D. Morrison | Blacksound and Blackface in British and American Popular Culture

Event details

Speaker: Matthew D. Morrison (New York University)

Date: Thursday, 11 November 2021

Time: 5.15 - 6.45pm.

Venue: Alison House, Atrium (G10)

Registration is required for this event

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Please note that masks must be worn unless you are medically exempt.

Abstract

Throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, blackface performance served as the aesthetic and material basis of identity and cultural formations in the United States, as it also laid the foundation for how identity and the economy of popular music have developed in the UK and throughout the world. Through the concept of Blacksound—which the author defines as the sonic and embodied aesthetics of blackface minstrelsy, or as the sonic complement of blackface— this talk unpacks the relationship between personhood, property, popular performance, race, and racism, within the legacy of mass entertainment and culture in the U.S, UK, and beyond.

Biography

Matthew Morrison's profile on the IASH website

Nov 11 2021 17.15 - 18.45