The advertising representation of "Aunt Jemima."
The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
The advertising image of Aunt Jemima was born at the 1893 World Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois, with ex-slave Nancy Green's promotion of inventor Charles Rutt's pancake mix. More than an American corporate icon, Aunt Jemima not only advertises the great American breakfast, but also conveys a stereotype of blackness and embodies the haunting legacy of the racial past. As a white construction of black identity, Aunt Jemima represents an easygoing, nostalgic and non-threatening domesticated character highly reminiscent of Mammy in Gone with the Wind. Despite a corporate image makeover in the early 1980s, which involved slim-mer features and the loss of the servitude-signifying bandanna, the trademark "Aunt Jemima" continues to invoke memories of slavery and segregation and reminds us of the persistence of racial prejudice.
The advertising representation of "Aunt Jemima."
Manring, M. M. Slave in a Box: The Strange Career of Aunt Jemima. Charlottesville, University Press of Virginia, 1998.
Pieterse, Jan Nederveen. White on Black: Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1992.