English

Noun

minstrelry ‎(plural minstrelries)

1. The art of minstrels.
2. A simplified depiction of another culture, especially black African, for entertainment purposes, generally seen as offensive.
   • 1998, Neil Parsons, King Khama, Emperor Joe, and the Great White Queen: Victorian Britain Through African Eyes, page 162:

     Possibly it was a tune of West African origin or, equally likely, a piece of mock-Ethiopian minstrelry composed by a white American.

   • 2007, Judith Miller, Ariane Mnouchkine, page 58:

     Minstrelry (making oneself up as “the other” to take the other over, to evacuate difference, to control representation) is indeed a dangerous and unethical practice.

   • 2009, Travis Elborough, The Long-Player Goodbye:

     Spearheaded by Charlie Parker, bebop, or just bop, had evolved in the 1940s, partly as an antidote to the crowd-pleasing showmanship (demeaning minstrelry, as they saw it) that was demanded in popular big band swing.

Synonyms

• (art of minstrels): minstrelsy