{"id":1247,"date":"2022-03-16T23:20:59","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T04:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/performinghistory\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2022-03-16T23:22:37","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T04:22:37","slug":"separating-the-person-from-the-performance-from-paris-to-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/performinghistory\/2022\/03\/16\/separating-the-person-from-the-performance-from-paris-to-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Separating the Person from the Performance: From Paris to Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

The question of whether Parisians truly loved, respected, and celebrated African American artists requires delving into the specific definitions of these three verbs as well as “Parisians” and “African American artists.” First, it is difficult and probably inaccurate to define, nevertheless assign a fully-mutual sentiment to, every member of a large group of people. For the sake of this argument, I will narrow “Parisians” down to mainly Parisian critics and performance directors of the time, assuming that some of the lay Paris population’s beliefs might have been influenced by the literature or performances they produced. I will narrow “African American artists” down to what Parisian critics themselves perceived and defined as “black art,” rather than the full, true cultural art that the French often stereotyped and misunderstood. From the get-go I will assert that Parisian critics did not truly engage with authentic black art. As Gendron quite accurately summarizes, the French “redesigned [productions] to fit French expectations” of black stereotypes, so that “the Africaneity of the\u00a0Creation [du mond]<\/em>\u00a0was Africa-Americanized by the tonalities of jazz, [and] the African American entertainments of the\u00a0Revue<\/em>\u00a0[n\u00e8gre]<\/em> were Africanized by the interventions of the French imaginary.”1<\/sup><\/a> If the French had no knowledge of what black art truly consisted of, there is no way they could have attempted to love, respect, or celebrate its true entity.<\/p>\n

The Parisian interpretation of black artists and their art centers on primitivism, a racist term that has been used both by modern scholars of French critics’ writings and by the French critics themselves. Primitive qualities that the French identified in black art include, for example, “bewildering syncopation and rubato,”2<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0“emotionalism” and “nostalgia\u2026for a world that had been lost” to civilization,3<\/sup><\/a> and “pastoral” timbres of Harlem ensembles and rhythms of ragtime and blues.”4<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0French critics perceived these musical elements as innate racial characteristics of black performers.<\/p>\n

To analyze whether 1920s Parisian critics truly loved African-American artists, I am purposefully excluding the sinless and selfless agape<\/em> definition of love, since it is often difficult to come by in human actions. If we define “to love” as to feel admiration for, enjoyment of, and perhaps sexual attraction toward something, many Parisian critics fit the bill. Some commentators \u00a0praised the ” ‘rhythmic surety’ of the dancers” and the “communal harmony normally lacking in the French music hall.”5<\/sup><\/a> Specifically in response to black artist Josephine Baker’s increasingly famous performances, writer Pierre de Regnier complements her embodiment of “the ‘primitive’ spirit” as ” ‘pure modern art! It is magnificent!’ “6<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0Other critics pointedly focus on Baker’s explicit display of sexuality. Levinson highlights the “carnal magnificence” emphasized in her “poses, back arched, haunches protruding, arms entwined and uplifted in a phallic symbol.”7<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup>Similarly, Jaques Patin wrote for\u00a0Le Fiargo\u00a0<\/em>about how “She bends, undulates, bounces, stoops\u2026shaken by a kind of rhythmic convulsion” in her performances.8<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Such comments as these present a genuine admiration for black artistry, though some of which lean more heavily towards flat-out infatuation.<\/p>\n

Despite any earnest praise they may have given, many French critics and show producers pushed this infatuation far enough to disrespect the bodies and, as a result, the humanity of black artists. From Baker’s dances, as seen in her rigorous banana dance in the video clip below, it is clear that her choreographers’ goal was to make her appear as ridiculous as possible by means of bent-over, angular poses and cross-eyed faces:<\/p>\n