On March 26, 2012, we published Blackness in Opera, which
examines the intersections of race and music in the multifaceted
genre of opera. The collection’s editors, Naomi André, Karen M.
Bryan, and Eric Saylor, collectively answered questions about
their new book. Q: What are some of the issues that arise with
the characterization of blacks in the opera? Editors: Many of
them have to do with misconceptions on the part of white
composers, librettists, and/or directors on how black people
sing, speak, and behave—in our collection, Gwynne Kuhner Brown
addresses this topic in her essay “Performers in Catfish Row:
Porgy and Bess as Collaboration.” The assignation of certain
stereotypical behaviors, speech patterns (especially pidgin
dialects), or personality traits to black characters may not
have been motivated by maliciously racist intentions, but
institutionalized racism certainly shaped white creators’
approach to black characters and cultures for a very long time.
Operas written after the Second World War are