Parody and double consciousness in the language of early Black musical theatre

African American Review, Summer, 1995 by David Krasner

Adding to the parody is the fact that the music of "No Coons Allowed!," writes Thomas L. Riis, "is upbeat and cheerful in spirit, in striking contrast to the text" (20). The dual theme of the song is constructed on a lyric/music paradox: The lyrics imply that one think through the debasing foundation of Jim Crow segregationism; the music, however, sustains a lively beat, with no hint of sorrow, rage, or frustration. The inventiveness and originality of "No Coons Allowed!" lie in the artfulness with which the lyrics parody white domination while the music remains within the minstrel tradition, appealing to both whites and blacks.

"No Coons Allowed!" also establishes an underlying resistance to the dominant discourse by employing what Henry Louis Gates calls "signifyin(g)."(8) For Gates, signifyin(g) defines "a uniquely black rhetorical concept . . . by which a second statement or figure repeats, or tropes, or reverses the first" (Figures 49). The reversal in "No Coons Allowed!" problematizes racism: The chorus becomes the "second statement" acting as a parodic commentary on the primary discourse. Moreover, signifyin(g) not only turns the lyrics back on themselves, but it complicates the foundation of racism, since the narrator who sings the lyrics is himself black. The singer, probably Bob Cole, surfaces as a Trickster figure whose commentary on the circumstances in the narrative problematizes racism by appearing to be "against" the subject. By endowing himself in the role of a racist, Cole undermines racism by stealing it from the mouths of whites. If African Americans call themselves "coon," "darky," "Sambo," or "kinky-head," it will not be long before the words themselves lose their racist impact. The singer internalizes the tale by acting as the mediator who says one thing but means another, who uses indirection as a means of persuasion, and who employs a discourse of implication. Signifyin(g) in black rhetorical strategies, Gates notes, is often representative of the signifier "who wreaks havoc on 'the signified'" ("'Blackness'" 131).

The Longman Dictionary of Poetic Terms defines parody as "an ancient device of comic imitation or sustained allusion meant to satirize previous works or ideas for the sake of humor or serious criticism by using the original form and/or content as a model" (Myers and Simms 225). The definition is important in helping to emphasize the complexity of the position black writers and performers occupied toward the subject of their portrayals. Since black theatrical productions were often forced to delineate their characters and dialogue within a proscribed framework patterned after minstrel theatre, parody and signifyin(g) evolved as principal means of satirizing minstrel devices.

Parody of racism and the sense of double consciousness in African American life surface repeatedly in the lyrics of black songs. In Aida Overton Walker's popular tune from the Williams and Walker production of Sons of Ham, "Miss Hannah From Savannah,"(9) the lyrics are unabashedly self-confident and proud: