minstrelsy
Wandering musician's craft
Minstrelsy is the art or practice of minstrels—traveling entertainers who performed songs, music, and verse in medieval Europe.
The word also refers to a body of minstrel songs or poetry collectively: the minstrelsy of the Scottish border.
In American history, minstrelsy specifically means the tradition of minstrel shows—19th-century theatrical performances featuring white (and later Black) performers in blackface, presenting racist caricatures of African Americans through song, dance, and comedy.
Poet of epics
- jongleurMedieval wandering entertainer
- troubadourMedieval Provençal lyric poet
- meistersingerGerman guild poet-musician
- gleemanAnglo-Saxon traveling minstrel
skald · griot · lute · harp · lyre · rebec · courtly · chivalry
Racist performance makeup tradition
- caricatureExaggerated comic depiction
- stereotypeFixed oversimplified notion
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
- antebellumBefore a war's start
vaudeville · ragtime · cakewalk · interlocutor · bones · tambourine · appropriation · racism
Narrative poem or song
- layPlace down flat
- dittyShort, simple song
- chansonFrench vocal composition
- serenadeOutdoor romantic performance
madrigal · chantey · carol · roundelay · arietta · aubade · barcarolle · berceuse
Solo musical performance
- entertainmentAgreeable diversion of attention
- showmanshipSkill at impressive presentation
- stageRaised performance platform
- audienceGathered viewers collectively
applause · repertoire · traveling · banquet · patronage · costume · spectacle · act
bard
Poet of epics
- jongleurMedieval wandering entertainer
- troubadourMedieval Provençal lyric poet
- meistersingerGerman guild poet-musician
gleeman · skald · griot · lute · harp · lyre · rebec · courtly · chivalry · romance
blackface
Racist performance makeup tradition
- caricatureExaggerated comic depiction
- stereotypeFixed oversimplified notion
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
antebellum · vaudeville · ragtime · cakewalk · interlocutor · bones · tambourine · appropriation · racism · exploitation
ballad
Narrative poem or song
serenade · madrigal · chantey · carol · roundelay · arietta · aubade · barcarolle · berceuse · plaintive
recital
Solo musical performance
- entertainmentAgreeable diversion of attention
- showmanshipSkill at impressive presentation
- stageRaised performance platform
audience · applause · repertoire · traveling · banquet · patronage · costume · spectacle · act · routine
medieval
Of the Middle Ages
- guildProfessional mutual-aid society
- courtTrial venue or sports surface
- castleFortified medieval residence
manor · feudal · chivalric · heraldry · pageantry · tournament · nobility · patronage · feast · hall
folksong
Traditional community music
saga · oral-history · tradition · lore · fable · narrative · storytelling · ancestry · customs · heritage
- medieval lifechivalry, royal courts, jousting, knighthood, falconry
- folk entertainmentfolk dancing, folk theater, busking, street performance, street theater
- Americana Musicspirituals, folk ballads, hymn books, Camptown Races, Beautiful Dreamer
- medieval literatureBeowulf, Song of Roland, Canterbury Tales, Chaucer, Geoffrey Chaucer
- medieval romancechivalric romance, courtly love, Arthurian legends, Arthurian legend, knightly quests
- oral traditionsoral traditions, oral tradition, folktales, folklore, saga
minstrelsyprose
Unversified language
essay · treatise · academic writing · technical writing · expository writing
minstrelsysilence
Total lack of sound
lecture · oration · sermon · recitation · monologue
minstrelsyhigh art
Culturally elevated creative works
classical composition · court music · academic work · chamber music · philology
- minstrel showRacist blackface theatrical entertainment
- wandering minstrelTraveling musical performer
- medieval minstrelsTraveling performers of yore