The theatre of empire
Subtitle: frontier performances in America, 1750-1860
By: by Douglas S. Harvey
Series: Empires in perspective -- no. 13
Publisher: Pickering & Chatto
Published: 2010
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 235
ISBN-13: 9781848930278; 9781848930285
Subjects: Imperialism in popular culture; Performing arts; Theater in propaganda; Colonial influence; History
Description: "Up to and following the War of Independence, the new American Republic expanded across the Appalachian mountains. To achieve this, the new nation embarked on a programme of ethnic cleansing and displacement of the indigenous population while relying heavily on slave labour. This was legitimized by the assumption of Anglo-Saxon supremacy. Harvey argues that all types of performance including traditional theatre, circuses and redface and blackface minstrelsy were used, both consciously and unconsciously, as a means of conforming public opinion to these aims. Often these forms of entertainment drew directly from the stock plays of the first British Empire, adapting them to meet new needs. This study traces the translation of ideas of imperial and economic expansion from London, at the hub of the British Empire, to the great plains of America, and shows how forms of entertainment played a key role in shaping concepts of nationhood"--Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.