2017/05/01 by Jaap Kooijman · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Gender, Feminism, and Media #South Asian Cinema and Culture #Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies
paper · doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9781474404310.003.0006
openalex publication_date 2017/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
The chapter examines how ‘blackness’ and ‘whiteness’ function in the construction of the star image of two African-American superstars from two different eras, Beyoncé and Diana Ross. It emphasises the historical link between Beyoncé and Ross in an attempt to show how their star texts are interconnected and continue to inform each other over time. The chapter reveals how ‘blackface’ and ‘whitewashing’ have been used strategically by the industry to please mainstream ‘white’ audiences. It also shows that two stars skilfully play with skin colour – the symbol of their ethnicity – and reduce it to a pure masquerade, thereby challenging the crude dichotomy of the association of whiteness with artificiality and blackness with authenticity.