Lawrence Barham
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264522
- eISBN:
- 9780191734724
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264522.003.0018
- Subject:
- Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology
A comparison of the archaeological evidence for symbol-based behaviours with the predictions of the social brain hypothesis has created ‘Dunbar's dilemma’. The dilemma lies in a disjuncture between ...
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A comparison of the archaeological evidence for symbol-based behaviours with the predictions of the social brain hypothesis has created ‘Dunbar's dilemma’. The dilemma lies in a disjuncture between evidence and theory, marked by a long chronological gap between the predicted cognitive potential for syntactic language (500 ka), communal religion (200 ka), and the earliest accepted archaeological evidence for these symbol-based behaviours (135 ka). One possibility is that the predictions of the social brain hypothesis may simply be wrong and these cognitively demanding behaviours developed with later populations of Homo sapiens. Alternatively, the social brain hypothesis may indeed be correct and the dilemma arises from the limited conceptual vision of how to interpret the material record. The resultant narrowing of the evidential gaps that comprise Dunbar's dilemma highlights the potential analytical insight that can be gained from an integrated approach involving evolutionary psychology, neurobiology and archaeology.Less
A comparison of the archaeological evidence for symbol-based behaviours with the predictions of the social brain hypothesis has created ‘Dunbar's dilemma’. The dilemma lies in a disjuncture between evidence and theory, marked by a long chronological gap between the predicted cognitive potential for syntactic language (500 ka), communal religion (200 ka), and the earliest accepted archaeological evidence for these symbol-based behaviours (135 ka). One possibility is that the predictions of the social brain hypothesis may simply be wrong and these cognitively demanding behaviours developed with later populations of Homo sapiens. Alternatively, the social brain hypothesis may indeed be correct and the dilemma arises from the limited conceptual vision of how to interpret the material record. The resultant narrowing of the evidential gaps that comprise Dunbar's dilemma highlights the potential analytical insight that can be gained from an integrated approach involving evolutionary psychology, neurobiology and archaeology.
Maurice Peress
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195098228
- eISBN:
- 9780199869817
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195098228.003.0007
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
Prominent black intellectuals, led by a distinguished minister, John Wesley Crumell, and including the young scholar, William E. B. Dubois and the poet, Paul Dunbar, had their own ideas “for the ...
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Prominent black intellectuals, led by a distinguished minister, John Wesley Crumell, and including the young scholar, William E. B. Dubois and the poet, Paul Dunbar, had their own ideas “for the development of Negro genius”. Cook and Dunbar created the first all Negro musical show on Broadway, Clorindy, The Origin of the Cakewalk (1898), “moving the Great White Way from the waltz to ragtime”.Less
Prominent black intellectuals, led by a distinguished minister, John Wesley Crumell, and including the young scholar, William E. B. Dubois and the poet, Paul Dunbar, had their own ideas “for the development of Negro genius”. Cook and Dunbar created the first all Negro musical show on Broadway, Clorindy, The Origin of the Cakewalk (1898), “moving the Great White Way from the waltz to ragtime”.
Mara Casey Tieken
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781469618487
- eISBN:
- 9781469618500
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469618487.003.0010
- Subject:
- Education, History of Education
This chapter concludes this book's research conducted in Delight and Earle, Arkansas. In 2010, the school in Delight was consolidated with Murfreesboro High, while only two of the schools in Earle ...
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This chapter concludes this book's research conducted in Delight and Earle, Arkansas. In 2010, the school in Delight was consolidated with Murfreesboro High, while only two of the schools in Earle remain open. Dunbar Middle School closed and its students split between the other schools. Looking at the future for schools in Delight and Earle, this chapter emphasizes the need for the development of a more distinct and connected approach to education policy. We need reforms that balance individual and collective needs, support for local and national goals, and foster racial and geographic justice.Less
This chapter concludes this book's research conducted in Delight and Earle, Arkansas. In 2010, the school in Delight was consolidated with Murfreesboro High, while only two of the schools in Earle remain open. Dunbar Middle School closed and its students split between the other schools. Looking at the future for schools in Delight and Earle, this chapter emphasizes the need for the development of a more distinct and connected approach to education policy. We need reforms that balance individual and collective needs, support for local and national goals, and foster racial and geographic justice.
Priscilla Bawcutt
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198129639
- eISBN:
- 9780191671807
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198129639.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
Dunbar's genius has been recognised not only by critics but by modern poets such as Auden and Eliot. This critical study examines Dunbar's view of himself as a poet, or ‘makar’, and the way he ...
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Dunbar's genius has been recognised not only by critics but by modern poets such as Auden and Eliot. This critical study examines Dunbar's view of himself as a poet, or ‘makar’, and the way he handles various poetic genres. New emphasis is placed on the petitions, or begging-poems, and their use for poetic introspection. There is also a particularly full study of Dunbar's under-valued comic poems, and of the modes most congenial to him: notably parody; irony; ‘flyting’, or invective; and black dream-fantasy. The author takes account of recent scholarship on Dunbar and also the literary traditions available to him, both in Latin and the vernaculars, including ‘popular’ and alliterative poetry as well as that of Chaucer and his followers. In her account of the poetry, she contests the over-simple and reductive views purveyed by some critics that Dunbar is primarily a moralist, or no more than a skilled virtuoso.Less
Dunbar's genius has been recognised not only by critics but by modern poets such as Auden and Eliot. This critical study examines Dunbar's view of himself as a poet, or ‘makar’, and the way he handles various poetic genres. New emphasis is placed on the petitions, or begging-poems, and their use for poetic introspection. There is also a particularly full study of Dunbar's under-valued comic poems, and of the modes most congenial to him: notably parody; irony; ‘flyting’, or invective; and black dream-fantasy. The author takes account of recent scholarship on Dunbar and also the literary traditions available to him, both in Latin and the vernaculars, including ‘popular’ and alliterative poetry as well as that of Chaucer and his followers. In her account of the poetry, she contests the over-simple and reductive views purveyed by some critics that Dunbar is primarily a moralist, or no more than a skilled virtuoso.
Priscilla Bawcutt
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198129639
- eISBN:
- 9780191671807
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198129639.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
William Dunbar is a poet whose great works are often praised yet rarely analysed. This chapter introduces readers to Dunbar, the makar; his works, his striking alterations of moods, his style and his ...
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William Dunbar is a poet whose great works are often praised yet rarely analysed. This chapter introduces readers to Dunbar, the makar; his works, his striking alterations of moods, his style and his language. This ‘Pompeii of British poetry’ wrote many serious, light-hearted and humorous poems, some of which are of high quality and displayed discrepant and morally inclined viewpoints. In this chapter, several of his poems are introduced, displaying his brilliance as a makar. He does not take himself seriously as a poet but his serious and comic poems that displayed verbal energy and peculiar excellence are remarked on by critics. His comic poems are elegantly crafted – even the most vulgar – and his refined poems never cease to catch the attention of the readers. Dunbar defeats easy, simple formulations: he is courtly and popular, literary but not bookish, intensely Scottish yet a master of the English language.Less
William Dunbar is a poet whose great works are often praised yet rarely analysed. This chapter introduces readers to Dunbar, the makar; his works, his striking alterations of moods, his style and his language. This ‘Pompeii of British poetry’ wrote many serious, light-hearted and humorous poems, some of which are of high quality and displayed discrepant and morally inclined viewpoints. In this chapter, several of his poems are introduced, displaying his brilliance as a makar. He does not take himself seriously as a poet but his serious and comic poems that displayed verbal energy and peculiar excellence are remarked on by critics. His comic poems are elegantly crafted – even the most vulgar – and his refined poems never cease to catch the attention of the readers. Dunbar defeats easy, simple formulations: he is courtly and popular, literary but not bookish, intensely Scottish yet a master of the English language.
Priscilla Bawcutt
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198129639
- eISBN:
- 9780191671807
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198129639.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
There is no fixed and immutable relationship between the real world Dunbar lived in and the poetic world he created. In his poems, Dunbar often selects the ingredients and ideas of his poems from the ...
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There is no fixed and immutable relationship between the real world Dunbar lived in and the poetic world he created. In his poems, Dunbar often selects the ingredients and ideas of his poems from the flux of actual life; he mentions real people, places and events. His imaginative world is sometime golden, more often low and undignified, constructed out of everyday and trivial activities. This made him and his poems difficult to interpret compared to the poets of his time. This chapter is devoted to Dubar's use of place, people and time in which his poems interrelate with the world around him. In this chapter several of his poems are carefully studied and analysed using the premise that the places, people and events indicated in his poems are results of his own experiences and his own real world. Among the studied poems of Dunbar that are included in the discussion are The Testament of Maister Andro Kennedy, The Treasurer's Account, Schir Thomas Norny, among others. The chapter also discusses the satire and mockery that are inscribed within the lines of his poetry, as well as the difficulty in determining the timeline and date of his petitions and poems marked by the variation of time-differences.Less
There is no fixed and immutable relationship between the real world Dunbar lived in and the poetic world he created. In his poems, Dunbar often selects the ingredients and ideas of his poems from the flux of actual life; he mentions real people, places and events. His imaginative world is sometime golden, more often low and undignified, constructed out of everyday and trivial activities. This made him and his poems difficult to interpret compared to the poets of his time. This chapter is devoted to Dubar's use of place, people and time in which his poems interrelate with the world around him. In this chapter several of his poems are carefully studied and analysed using the premise that the places, people and events indicated in his poems are results of his own experiences and his own real world. Among the studied poems of Dunbar that are included in the discussion are The Testament of Maister Andro Kennedy, The Treasurer's Account, Schir Thomas Norny, among others. The chapter also discusses the satire and mockery that are inscribed within the lines of his poetry, as well as the difficulty in determining the timeline and date of his petitions and poems marked by the variation of time-differences.
Priscilla Bawcutt
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198129639
- eISBN:
- 9780191671807
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198129639.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter discusses the rule of James V and the role of Dunbar during his reign as a court poet, wherein he was tasked to write complimentary verses of places, people with high ranks, occasion and ...
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This chapter discusses the rule of James V and the role of Dunbar during his reign as a court poet, wherein he was tasked to write complimentary verses of places, people with high ranks, occasion and monumental events and historical accounts. In his court poems and begging-poems, he tends to lean towards a communal voice, sometimes inclined towards public rituals. His poems, although displaying an appropriately elevated style, lack individuality and abound in rhetorical commonplaces and such figures as apostrophe, repetitio and hyperbole. The discussion also focuses on the failure of Dunbar to establish himself as a respected poet, owing to the poetic genre in which his poems were generally created. His begging-poems are often seen by scholars and poets alike as unattractive, not a literary tradition and not moralising.Less
This chapter discusses the rule of James V and the role of Dunbar during his reign as a court poet, wherein he was tasked to write complimentary verses of places, people with high ranks, occasion and monumental events and historical accounts. In his court poems and begging-poems, he tends to lean towards a communal voice, sometimes inclined towards public rituals. His poems, although displaying an appropriately elevated style, lack individuality and abound in rhetorical commonplaces and such figures as apostrophe, repetitio and hyperbole. The discussion also focuses on the failure of Dunbar to establish himself as a respected poet, owing to the poetic genre in which his poems were generally created. His begging-poems are often seen by scholars and poets alike as unattractive, not a literary tradition and not moralising.
Priscilla Bawcutt
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198129639
- eISBN:
- 9780191671807
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198129639.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter discusses Dunbar's moral poems, classified as the ‘Divine’ and ‘Moralities’ poems. Dunbar's poems are strongly imbued with a sense of mutability of this world. His counsels in his poems ...
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This chapter discusses Dunbar's moral poems, classified as the ‘Divine’ and ‘Moralities’ poems. Dunbar's poems are strongly imbued with a sense of mutability of this world. His counsels in his poems are written from the perspective of the eternal and are constructed within the frames of the Christian perspective on death, judgement, hell and heaven. In most of his poems are didactic verses that are embedded in couplets, quatrains and royal rhymes. His topics range from the mundane to the most holy prayers and teachings of the Church influenced by Latin or the vernaculars, by proverbs, homilies or other works of instruction, often displayed in rich symbolic imagery or in terse repetitions or refrains.Less
This chapter discusses Dunbar's moral poems, classified as the ‘Divine’ and ‘Moralities’ poems. Dunbar's poems are strongly imbued with a sense of mutability of this world. His counsels in his poems are written from the perspective of the eternal and are constructed within the frames of the Christian perspective on death, judgement, hell and heaven. In most of his poems are didactic verses that are embedded in couplets, quatrains and royal rhymes. His topics range from the mundane to the most holy prayers and teachings of the Church influenced by Latin or the vernaculars, by proverbs, homilies or other works of instruction, often displayed in rich symbolic imagery or in terse repetitions or refrains.
Priscilla Bawcutt
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198129639
- eISBN:
- 9780191671807
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198129639.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter discusses one of the medieval poetic traditions in which Dunbar excels: flyting. In the sixteenth century, flyting was a contest of wits wherein poets assailed each other alternately ...
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This chapter discusses one of the medieval poetic traditions in which Dunbar excels: flyting. In the sixteenth century, flyting was a contest of wits wherein poets assailed each other alternately with tirades of abusive verses. In this chapter, the poems of Dunbar that criticize the manners and morals of society are carefully studied, particularly those that are inclined towards retaliatory, lampoon, invective and satirical poetry. Most of his poems tirade the follies of the common man, but the greed of the common churchmen makes, however, no mention of the abuses in the contemporary Scottish Church. Although Dunbar sardonically displays tirades and criticisms in his poems, most of his satiric stances are conservative, conventional and devoid of one particular subject upon which he is morally outraged.Less
This chapter discusses one of the medieval poetic traditions in which Dunbar excels: flyting. In the sixteenth century, flyting was a contest of wits wherein poets assailed each other alternately with tirades of abusive verses. In this chapter, the poems of Dunbar that criticize the manners and morals of society are carefully studied, particularly those that are inclined towards retaliatory, lampoon, invective and satirical poetry. Most of his poems tirade the follies of the common man, but the greed of the common churchmen makes, however, no mention of the abuses in the contemporary Scottish Church. Although Dunbar sardonically displays tirades and criticisms in his poems, most of his satiric stances are conservative, conventional and devoid of one particular subject upon which he is morally outraged.
Priscilla Bawcutt
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198129639
- eISBN:
- 9780191671807
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198129639.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
Unlike Chaucer, who was described as a ‘womanis frend’, William Dunbar never took great interest in women. Most of his poetry is not primarily concerned with them. It is man who is frequently ...
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Unlike Chaucer, who was described as a ‘womanis frend’, William Dunbar never took great interest in women. Most of his poetry is not primarily concerned with them. It is man who is frequently admonished in his moral poems and the state of man is their chief theme. This chapter focuses on the few yet interesting poems of Dunbar on women, among which is The Tua Mariit Wemen and the Wedo. Dunbar is not highly esteemed as a love poet but he was neither indifferent to the alliance between love and ladies, beauty and bliss. Dunbar's few poems on women and love display his characteristic variety, comprising lyrics and narratives, a beast fable and dream poems, and poems on seduction and courtship. He writes of the pain and comedy of love as if he was involved, sometimes on the viewpoint of Christian morality, but he is frequently detached from his poems: he was neither a participant nor a critic but an amused and ironic observer of the game of love.Less
Unlike Chaucer, who was described as a ‘womanis frend’, William Dunbar never took great interest in women. Most of his poetry is not primarily concerned with them. It is man who is frequently admonished in his moral poems and the state of man is their chief theme. This chapter focuses on the few yet interesting poems of Dunbar on women, among which is The Tua Mariit Wemen and the Wedo. Dunbar is not highly esteemed as a love poet but he was neither indifferent to the alliance between love and ladies, beauty and bliss. Dunbar's few poems on women and love display his characteristic variety, comprising lyrics and narratives, a beast fable and dream poems, and poems on seduction and courtship. He writes of the pain and comedy of love as if he was involved, sometimes on the viewpoint of Christian morality, but he is frequently detached from his poems: he was neither a participant nor a critic but an amused and ironic observer of the game of love.
J.A. Burrow
- Published in print:
- 1984
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198111870
- eISBN:
- 9780191670657
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198111870.003.0011
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
The ‘Young saint, old devil’ is a medieval proverb that was included in Dunbar's poem entitled ‘The Merle and the Nychtingaill’. This chapter discusses other passages and discussions that concern ...
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The ‘Young saint, old devil’ is a medieval proverb that was included in Dunbar's poem entitled ‘The Merle and the Nychtingaill’. This chapter discusses other passages and discussions that concern this old proverb, and how other English writers translated this proverb into their respective works.Less
The ‘Young saint, old devil’ is a medieval proverb that was included in Dunbar's poem entitled ‘The Merle and the Nychtingaill’. This chapter discusses other passages and discussions that concern this old proverb, and how other English writers translated this proverb into their respective works.
Kathryn Talalay
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195113938
- eISBN:
- 9780199853816
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195113938.003.0021
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
By the fall of 1951 events took an upward turn in Philippa's career. A glorious tour in Africa and Europe had been arranged from December through March and this promised to be a stellar experience ...
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By the fall of 1951 events took an upward turn in Philippa's career. A glorious tour in Africa and Europe had been arranged from December through March and this promised to be a stellar experience for Philippa. Musical America was also planning to feature her on the cover of its December issue, thus uplifting again the spirit of Philippa. In the same year, Philippa received a letter from Rudolph Dunbar of London, who would later convince her to marry Ben Enwonwu, a Nigerian artist living in England. Philippa was attracted, at least intellectually, to the idea of marrying Ben Enwonwu but later on declined the proposal for many reasons, which she had written about a letter to her mother.Less
By the fall of 1951 events took an upward turn in Philippa's career. A glorious tour in Africa and Europe had been arranged from December through March and this promised to be a stellar experience for Philippa. Musical America was also planning to feature her on the cover of its December issue, thus uplifting again the spirit of Philippa. In the same year, Philippa received a letter from Rudolph Dunbar of London, who would later convince her to marry Ben Enwonwu, a Nigerian artist living in England. Philippa was attracted, at least intellectually, to the idea of marrying Ben Enwonwu but later on declined the proposal for many reasons, which she had written about a letter to her mother.
Lorenzo Thomas
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195109924
- eISBN:
- 9780199855261
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195109924.003.0014
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
The two most widely known African American poets before the 20th century were Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Harper was an accomplished elocutionist and Emerson's ...
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The two most widely known African American poets before the 20th century were Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Harper was an accomplished elocutionist and Emerson's “Self-Reliance” and other lyceum circuit lectures are now classic texts of American literature. Dunbar's performances were of a quite different nature. He was opinionated and outspoken on social and political issues and his readings were straightforward recitals of his poems, which were written in dialect and standard traditional stanzaic forms. However, Harper' practice was aimed at the harmonious alignment of head and heart. The invention of a characteristic voice was needed to carry Harper's message and to bridge the cultural distance between Standard English and black dialect.Less
The two most widely known African American poets before the 20th century were Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Harper was an accomplished elocutionist and Emerson's “Self-Reliance” and other lyceum circuit lectures are now classic texts of American literature. Dunbar's performances were of a quite different nature. He was opinionated and outspoken on social and political issues and his readings were straightforward recitals of his poems, which were written in dialect and standard traditional stanzaic forms. However, Harper' practice was aimed at the harmonious alignment of head and heart. The invention of a characteristic voice was needed to carry Harper's message and to bridge the cultural distance between Standard English and black dialect.
Marva Carter
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195108910
- eISBN:
- 9780199865796
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195108910.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
Renowned today as a prominent African-American in music theater and the arts community, composer, conductor, and violinist Will Marion Cook was a key figure in the development of American music from ...
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Renowned today as a prominent African-American in music theater and the arts community, composer, conductor, and violinist Will Marion Cook was a key figure in the development of American music from the 1890s to the 1920s. This book looks at his life’s story, drawing on his unfinished autobiography and his wife Abbie’s memoir. A violin virtuoso, Cook studied at Oberlin College (his parents’ alma mater), Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik with Joseph Joachim, and New York’s national Conservatory of Music with Antonín Dvořák. Cook wrote music for a now-lost production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin for the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, and then devoted the majority of his career to black musical comedies due to limited opportunities available to him as a black composer. He was instrumental in showcasing his Southern Syncopated Orchestra in the prominent concert halls of the United States and Europe, even featuring New Orleans clarinetist Sidney Bechet, who later introduced European audiences to authentic blues. Once mentored by Frederick Douglas, Will Marion Cook went on to mentor Duke Ellington, paving the path for orchestral concert jazz. Through interpretive and musical analyses, the book traces Cook’s successful evolution from minstrelsy to musical theater. Written with his collaborator, the distinguished poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Cook’s musicals infused American musical theater with African-American music, consequently altering the direction of American popular music. Cook’s In Dahomeym was the first full-length Broadway musical to be written and performed by blacks. Alongside his accomplishments, Cook’s contentious side is revealed—a man known for his aggressiveness, pride, and constant quarrels, he became his own worst enemy in regards to his career. The book also sets Cook’s life against the backdrop of the changing cultural and social milieu: the black theatrical tradition, white audiences’ reaction to black performers, and the growing consciousness and sophistication of blacks in the arts, especially music.Less
Renowned today as a prominent African-American in music theater and the arts community, composer, conductor, and violinist Will Marion Cook was a key figure in the development of American music from the 1890s to the 1920s. This book looks at his life’s story, drawing on his unfinished autobiography and his wife Abbie’s memoir. A violin virtuoso, Cook studied at Oberlin College (his parents’ alma mater), Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik with Joseph Joachim, and New York’s national Conservatory of Music with Antonín Dvořák. Cook wrote music for a now-lost production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin for the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, and then devoted the majority of his career to black musical comedies due to limited opportunities available to him as a black composer. He was instrumental in showcasing his Southern Syncopated Orchestra in the prominent concert halls of the United States and Europe, even featuring New Orleans clarinetist Sidney Bechet, who later introduced European audiences to authentic blues. Once mentored by Frederick Douglas, Will Marion Cook went on to mentor Duke Ellington, paving the path for orchestral concert jazz. Through interpretive and musical analyses, the book traces Cook’s successful evolution from minstrelsy to musical theater. Written with his collaborator, the distinguished poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Cook’s musicals infused American musical theater with African-American music, consequently altering the direction of American popular music. Cook’s In Dahomeym was the first full-length Broadway musical to be written and performed by blacks. Alongside his accomplishments, Cook’s contentious side is revealed—a man known for his aggressiveness, pride, and constant quarrels, he became his own worst enemy in regards to his career. The book also sets Cook’s life against the backdrop of the changing cultural and social milieu: the black theatrical tradition, white audiences’ reaction to black performers, and the growing consciousness and sophistication of blacks in the arts, especially music.
Marva Griffin Carter
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195108910
- eISBN:
- 9780199865796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195108910.003.0006
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This chapter begins by discussing how the Worth’s Museum in Manhattan initiated Will Cook into musical theater. It talks about how important Bob Cole was to Will Cook in learning the tricks of the ...
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This chapter begins by discussing how the Worth’s Museum in Manhattan initiated Will Cook into musical theater. It talks about how important Bob Cole was to Will Cook in learning the tricks of the theatrical trade. It also talks about Will Cook and Paul Laurence Dunbar’s collaboration in creatively composing songs. It also tells of Cook’s disappointment and depression after being told by his prospective producer that he must be crazy to believe that any Broadway audience would listen to Negroes singing Negro opera. It narrates how Cook gathered another group of talented blacks, succeeded in organizing Broadway’s first black musical-comedy sketch, and gained praise from their audience. It then talks about Abbie Mitchell’s life as Will’s wife. It explains that Will Cook formed and applied his own philosophy—African-Americans should no longer imitate, but rather adhere to their own cultural mores—into his own musical compositions.Less
This chapter begins by discussing how the Worth’s Museum in Manhattan initiated Will Cook into musical theater. It talks about how important Bob Cole was to Will Cook in learning the tricks of the theatrical trade. It also talks about Will Cook and Paul Laurence Dunbar’s collaboration in creatively composing songs. It also tells of Cook’s disappointment and depression after being told by his prospective producer that he must be crazy to believe that any Broadway audience would listen to Negroes singing Negro opera. It narrates how Cook gathered another group of talented blacks, succeeded in organizing Broadway’s first black musical-comedy sketch, and gained praise from their audience. It then talks about Abbie Mitchell’s life as Will’s wife. It explains that Will Cook formed and applied his own philosophy—African-Americans should no longer imitate, but rather adhere to their own cultural mores—into his own musical compositions.
Marva Griffin Carter
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195108910
- eISBN:
- 9780199865796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195108910.003.0009
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This chapter discusses how a group of black contemporary intellectuals and artists elevated the content, form, and style of the Negro as theatrical writer, composer, and performer. It shows that Will ...
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This chapter discusses how a group of black contemporary intellectuals and artists elevated the content, form, and style of the Negro as theatrical writer, composer, and performer. It shows that Will Cook used compositional techniques that were employed by both black and white contemporary composers. It shows that Cook used the African themes, ethnic humor, and coon variety stereotypes that were common among black songwriters, but he also wrote songs about love, women, patriotism, nostalgia, and themes that were also common in the songs by whites. It clarifies that the ultimate purpose of masking was for deception, which for blacks was a method of coping with their dual role in a multiracial society. It highlights that in unmasking the musicals of Will Cook, African Americans came closer to revealing the truth about themselves and others in their pursuit of social justice and equality.Less
This chapter discusses how a group of black contemporary intellectuals and artists elevated the content, form, and style of the Negro as theatrical writer, composer, and performer. It shows that Will Cook used compositional techniques that were employed by both black and white contemporary composers. It shows that Cook used the African themes, ethnic humor, and coon variety stereotypes that were common among black songwriters, but he also wrote songs about love, women, patriotism, nostalgia, and themes that were also common in the songs by whites. It clarifies that the ultimate purpose of masking was for deception, which for blacks was a method of coping with their dual role in a multiracial society. It highlights that in unmasking the musicals of Will Cook, African Americans came closer to revealing the truth about themselves and others in their pursuit of social justice and equality.
Nigel Mortimer
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199275014
- eISBN:
- 9780191705939
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199275014.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter offers an overview of the critical reception of Lydgate's work, tracing the decline from a tradition of medieval encomium (voiced by, among others, William Dunbar and William Caxton), ...
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This chapter offers an overview of the critical reception of Lydgate's work, tracing the decline from a tradition of medieval encomium (voiced by, among others, William Dunbar and William Caxton), which praised Lydgate's aureate style and moralistic content and placed him alongside Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower in an English poetic triumvirate, to a mid-Tudor ambivalence, much influenced by the Reformation. Later 19th-century traditions of positivistic German scholarship saw a resurgence in interest in Lydgate: attention is paid to the findings of Emil Koeppel's 1885 Munich thesis on the Fall, and to German and French studies that followed, especially that of Friedrich Brie (1929). Although there has more recently been a critical rehabilitation of Lydgate, kick-started in 1987 by David Lawton, attention has focused more on works such as Troy Book and Siege of Thebes than on the Fall.Less
This chapter offers an overview of the critical reception of Lydgate's work, tracing the decline from a tradition of medieval encomium (voiced by, among others, William Dunbar and William Caxton), which praised Lydgate's aureate style and moralistic content and placed him alongside Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower in an English poetic triumvirate, to a mid-Tudor ambivalence, much influenced by the Reformation. Later 19th-century traditions of positivistic German scholarship saw a resurgence in interest in Lydgate: attention is paid to the findings of Emil Koeppel's 1885 Munich thesis on the Fall, and to German and French studies that followed, especially that of Friedrich Brie (1929). Although there has more recently been a critical rehabilitation of Lydgate, kick-started in 1987 by David Lawton, attention has focused more on works such as Troy Book and Siege of Thebes than on the Fall.
Jason Wood
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231171977
- eISBN:
- 9780231850698
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231171977.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter presents an interview with filmmaker Clio Barnard. Barnard's work deals with the relationship between documentary and fiction, and in particular the subjectivity of recollection. His ...
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This chapter presents an interview with filmmaker Clio Barnard. Barnard's work deals with the relationship between documentary and fiction, and in particular the subjectivity of recollection. His first feature film was The Arbor (2010), which celebrated playwright Andrea Dunbar's triumphs and dissected her legacy, and The Selfish Giant, which premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews. The interview covered topics such as how Barnard wants to engage with the subject of previous representations of the Buttershaw Estate on stage and screen, and what was it about the techniques of verbatim theatre that struck him as being appropriate for The Arbor; the lip-synching technique employed by his actors; and whether he wishes to encourage an interpretative approach from the audience to what is on screen.Less
This chapter presents an interview with filmmaker Clio Barnard. Barnard's work deals with the relationship between documentary and fiction, and in particular the subjectivity of recollection. His first feature film was The Arbor (2010), which celebrated playwright Andrea Dunbar's triumphs and dissected her legacy, and The Selfish Giant, which premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews. The interview covered topics such as how Barnard wants to engage with the subject of previous representations of the Buttershaw Estate on stage and screen, and what was it about the techniques of verbatim theatre that struck him as being appropriate for The Arbor; the lip-synching technique employed by his actors; and whether he wishes to encourage an interpretative approach from the audience to what is on screen.
Nadia Nurhussein
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691190969
- eISBN:
- 9780691194134
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691190969.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, African-American Literature
This chapter uncovers the beginnings of a more grounded Ethiopianism in its treatment of nineteenth-century lyric verse by Walt Whitman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and others written on the topic of ...
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This chapter uncovers the beginnings of a more grounded Ethiopianism in its treatment of nineteenth-century lyric verse by Walt Whitman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and others written on the topic of Ethiopia, when abstract Ethiopianism was a prominent ideology in African America. It addresses the politics of Walt Whitman's poem, particularly in the poem's “recognition” of the Ethiopian flag, in light of the press's treatment of the Anglo-Abyssinian conflict. Paul Laurence Dunbar's interpretation of the Ethiopian flag's symbolic value, in “Ode to Ethiopia” and “Frederick Douglass,” positions him uncomfortably alongside Whitman, a poet he found distasteful. His poems present an “Ethiopia” invigorated with nationalism and, unexpectedly, with militarism. The chapter also talks about two poems about Emperor Tewodros by women: “Magdala,” which appeared in the 1875 book Songs of the Year and Other Poems by “Charlton,” and “The Death of King Theodore,” in E. Davidson's 1874 The Death of King Theodore and Other Poems.Less
This chapter uncovers the beginnings of a more grounded Ethiopianism in its treatment of nineteenth-century lyric verse by Walt Whitman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and others written on the topic of Ethiopia, when abstract Ethiopianism was a prominent ideology in African America. It addresses the politics of Walt Whitman's poem, particularly in the poem's “recognition” of the Ethiopian flag, in light of the press's treatment of the Anglo-Abyssinian conflict. Paul Laurence Dunbar's interpretation of the Ethiopian flag's symbolic value, in “Ode to Ethiopia” and “Frederick Douglass,” positions him uncomfortably alongside Whitman, a poet he found distasteful. His poems present an “Ethiopia” invigorated with nationalism and, unexpectedly, with militarism. The chapter also talks about two poems about Emperor Tewodros by women: “Magdala,” which appeared in the 1875 book Songs of the Year and Other Poems by “Charlton,” and “The Death of King Theodore,” in E. Davidson's 1874 The Death of King Theodore and Other Poems.
Kevin Mungons and Douglas Yeo
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9780252043840
- eISBN:
- 9780252052743
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252043840.003.0008
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
The African American spiritual emerged as a devotional and performance idiom in the early twentieth century, promoted in black and white communities and churches through the work of Jubilee Singers, ...
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The African American spiritual emerged as a devotional and performance idiom in the early twentieth century, promoted in black and white communities and churches through the work of Jubilee Singers, and in secular and sacred contexts. Homer Rodeheaver played an important role in their early commercial history by transcribing performances of spirituals for publication in his hymnals, championing them in evangelistic meetings, and recording them with black gospel singing groups. The authors explore Rodeheaver’s quest for authenticity in spirituals, their transformative religious meaning, their connection to minstrelsy, and their influence on their development American popular music, Rodeheaver’s personal interest in black culture is also examined through his performances of the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, presented in dialect and blackface.Less
The African American spiritual emerged as a devotional and performance idiom in the early twentieth century, promoted in black and white communities and churches through the work of Jubilee Singers, and in secular and sacred contexts. Homer Rodeheaver played an important role in their early commercial history by transcribing performances of spirituals for publication in his hymnals, championing them in evangelistic meetings, and recording them with black gospel singing groups. The authors explore Rodeheaver’s quest for authenticity in spirituals, their transformative religious meaning, their connection to minstrelsy, and their influence on their development American popular music, Rodeheaver’s personal interest in black culture is also examined through his performances of the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, presented in dialect and blackface.
