Coon Carnival

From ESAT
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The term "coon"

The term derives from raccoon, it was used in America to refer to performers in black-face entertainments, hence also any black man.

A more recent derivative of the term in the USA has been the term "coonery"[1], which refers to matters such as the antics and behavior displayed by certain individuals (usually African Americans) which may embarrass the rest of the Black community or reinforce and perpetuate commonly held racial stereotypes about their own community.

While it has other meanings, such as a racial slur for a black person as in the American usage, the term coon is most prominent in South Africa with reference to a performer in the Cape Town Coon Carnival, with its early association with the Christy's Minstrels and other "blackface" performers from America who visited the country.

See for example definitions provided by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon and http://www.thefreedictionary.com/coon

Carnival

See also Festival

The idea of the carnivalesque

Origins and history

Carnivals in South Africa

The Coon Carnival in the Cape =

Also known as the Cape Coon Carnival or The Cape Coons (In Afrikaans: die Kaapse Klopse or simply Klopse).

Today the use of Coon has fallen away, though Klopse has remained.


Origins of the Coons or Klopse

Coons and Coon troupes

The performance styles

The Coon Festival as event

Student carnivals

Known as Karnaval or more commonly Jool in Afrikaans



Links

Return to South African Theatre Terminology and Thematic Entries

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page