In Eleanor W. Traylor's essay "Two Afro-American Contributions to Dramatic Form" she discusses exactly what the title suggests – two Afro-American contributions to the dramatic form. The two contributions that she identifies are the minstrel show and the slave narrative. Traylor identifies the minstrel show as "performance by white actors in corked-black-face, burlesquing what they perceived as the speech, behavior, artifacts, and masking rituals of Afro-American slaves from whom they burgled all aspects of the form they enacted" (49). When the author claims that white actors "burgled" certain elements from the Afro-American slaves, she is inferring this from the minstrel show's "invisible history" (51). The true origins of the shows are not
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The significance of this, according to Traylor, was the fact that this new way to tell stories blurred the lines between generic distinctions by including elements of various genres yet remaining something else entirely. Additionally, the slave narrative possessed a power to "dislodges the horrible from the category of the beautiful and places it into the category of the evil, the disgusting, the contemptible, and the decadent" (55). This was vital because prior to the narratives, people – the romantics in particular – saw beauty in things that produced pain and relished it. Through imagery employed in slave narratives, not only was this illusion shattered, but it also served as a medium through which to deliver a sermon to condemn the evils of slavery. There was a strong power that arose in the words of the slave narrative and the public quickly picked up on it once it took hold. Traylor's essay is key to not only understanding Afro-American contributions, but also the origins, evolution, and impact of each. Furthermore, it is crucial to note that such contributions were the basis on which American theatre found some of its roots. While reading other works of dramatic art, especially those from the nineteenth century, one should keep in mind the minstrel show and slave narrative. In doing so, there may be several similarities to identify and analyze to gain further
The significance of this, according to Traylor, was the fact that this new way to tell stories blurred the lines between generic distinctions by including elements of various genres yet remaining something else entirely. Additionally, the slave narrative possessed a power to "dislodges the horrible from the category of the beautiful and places it into the category of the evil, the disgusting, the contemptible, and the decadent" (55). This was vital because prior to the narratives, people – the romantics in particular – saw beauty in things that produced pain and relished it. Through imagery employed in slave narratives, not only was this illusion shattered, but it also served as a medium through which to deliver a sermon to condemn the evils of slavery. There was a strong power that arose in the words of the slave narrative and the public quickly picked up on it once it took hold. Traylor's essay is key to not only understanding Afro-American contributions, but also the origins, evolution, and impact of each. Furthermore, it is crucial to note that such contributions were the basis on which American theatre found some of its roots. While reading other works of dramatic art, especially those from the nineteenth century, one should keep in mind the minstrel show and slave narrative. In doing so, there may be several similarities to identify and analyze to gain further