Blackface, Disguise and Invisibility in the Reception of The Birth of a Nation

Richard Maltby

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-04737-4_3

Blackface, Disguise and Invisibility in the Reception of The Birth of a Nation

Richard Maltby

College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This chapter explores a question of audience perception in the light of the divergence between interpretative accounts of films as texts and social histories of cinema as cultural institution and as experience. Focusing on one scene in The Birth of a Nation in which the disguise of blackface is incorporated into the film as a plot device, it examines the evidence of how the film’s contemporary audiences might have perceived its mode of Black representation.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	In the Shadow of the Birth of a Nation
Subtitle of host publication	Racism, Reception and Resistance
Editors	Melvyn Stokes, Paul McEwan
Place of Publication	Cham, Switzerland
Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan
Chapter	3
Pages	35-62
Number of pages	28
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-031-04737-4
ISBN (Print)	978-3-031-04736-7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04737-4_3
Publication status	Published - 2023

Keywords

Black representation in film
Birth of Nation
Blackface

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10.1007/978-3-031-04737-4_3Licence: In Copyright

https://rdcu.be/dijOPLicence: In Copyright

Cite this

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Blackface, Disguise and Invisibility in the Reception of The Birth of a Nation

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Keywords

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