黑与白的“变脸”——论“黑脸喜剧”的历史嬗变及文化悖论

“Face Ex/Changing”between Black and White:On Historical Transfor^mation and Cultural Paradox of Blackface Minstrelsy

"黑脸喜剧"被惠特曼称为"美国歌剧",是美国最喜闻乐见的戏剧表演艺术形式之一。作为一个充满矛盾、对立和动态的文化场域,"黑脸喜剧"堪称美国黑人和白人之间种族矛盾、种族歧视、种族抗争和种族协商的缩影。"黑脸喜剧"的文化起源、深藏的罪与罚、历史嬗变和文化悖论都深刻地反映了这一戏剧形式的复杂性和独特性:它既带有鲜明的种族歧视的标签,充当过黑人刻板形象生产的工具,也是助推美国特色的戏剧表演和美国大众文化崛起的媒介,更是催生20世纪后期美国黑人戏剧"戏仿"模式的重要动因。

Praised as ＂American Opera＂ by Walt Whitman, blackface minstrelsy is one of the most prevailing forms of American theatre. As a cultural field filled with con- tradiction, conflict and dynamics, blackface minstrelsy is an epitome of racial conflict, racial discrimination, racial struggling and racial negotiation. The cultural roots and sources, the hidden historical crimes and the due punishments, the historical transforma- tion and cultural paradox of blackface minstrelsy all profoundly reflect the complexity and uniqueness of this theatrical form. Stigmatized as racial discrimination, blackface minstrelsy is guilty of producing black racial stereotypes; yet paradoxically, it is also the medium to stimulate the development of American theatrical performance and the rise of the American mass culture. And above all it is the main motivation to spawn the parody mode of African American theater in the late twentieth century.