In Dahomey, Minstresly and Stereotypes in Black Theater

I apologize for the late post. I had some publishing issues with Blogger which prevented me from posting.

Our discussions have focused broadly on the stereotypes used to portray blacks on the American Theater stage. We have learned that while whites mimicking "black life" on stage circulated essentialized representations of black men and women, that blacks also participated in circulating these unfavorbale images. In what ways, if at all, do any of the characters we have encountered in Aikens' Uncle Tom's Cabin, Browns' The Escape and Cook's In Dahomey present new representations of black subjects that disrupt these stereotypes of "Uncle Tom," "Coon," "Topsy, and "Tragic mulatto," etc. that we have seen thus far?

Introduction to African American Theater-Uncle Tom's Cabin

Harry Elam argues in the introduction of African American Theater and Performance History that "race reamins a device with very real meanings"(2001,6). Thinking about the ways the characters in Aikens' Uncle Tom's Cabin are represented, how do you understand race to operate as a device in this play? In what ways can you make sense of the idea of race as social construction that changes its meaning over time? What situations between characters can you isolate that repersentative of "race relations" in this particular historical context?