O blackface no filme “O Cantor de Jazz” 1927: questões raciais e a passagem do cinema silencioso para o cinema falado

Abstract

This monograph proposes to investigate blackface and its social relations with cinema in American society in the late 1920s, analyzing how it acted in the United States; that was going through a strong social tension since the introduction of segregationist policies developed in the 1870s, such as the Jim Crow laws. The focus of the research will be the film "The Jazz Singer", from 1927, this being an important feature for the world film industry – pioneer in the transition between silent cinema and spoken cinema – but, which brings to the big screens a very common element in the American culture of the period, the minstréis blackfaces. Using this feature and other products as an analysis lens (such as publicity posters), the objective is to understand how the cinematic universe uses this resource; representing or stereotyping the black population; thus highlighting a pejorative view of the African-American community in the country. Starting from the understanding that cinema is part of society and acts significantly in it, contributing to the construction of ideals, values and (pre) concepts of this; the research also intends to be busy investigating and interpreting the way that different American and Brazilian media spaces received this feature. As newspapers, reviews, ads and fan-magazines see the film and the themes that surround it, as well as – also – examining how they approached blackface. Moreover, it will be observed the way these media treated the sound innovation brought by the film, presenting a discussion about how this novelty impacted the Brazilian and American film world, presenting the effects and resistances to its implementation. Finally, this paper aims to expand discussions about how Hollywood cinema's view of African-American populations is.