Acknowledgments
Prologue: What Might Be Josephine Baker's Film History
Introduction: Hey! Ha! Shimmy My Bananas! Refracting Baker's
Image
1. Traveling Shoes: Baker's Migrations and the Conundrums of Sweet
Paris
2. Shouting at Shadows: The Black American Press, French Colonial
Culture, and La sirène des tropiques
3. Unintended Exposures: Baker's Prismatic Ethnological Performance
in ZouZou
4. Seeing Double: Parody and Desire in Le pompier de Folier Bergère
and Princesse Tam-Tam
Epilogue: Long Live Josephine Baker!
Bibliography
Index
Terri Simone Francis is Associate Professor at the University of Miami.
Josephine Baker's Cinematic Prism explores Baker's celebrity and
ability to have such a hold in the Black film industry even while
working almost exclusively with white directors, actors and crew in
white—specifically European—spaces. Francis examines the dialogue
between Baker and the characters she portrayed, particularly those
whose narratives seemed to undermine the stardom they offered.
Expertly crafted, Josephine Baker's Cinematic Prism illustrates the
most prominent links between Black cinema, conflicting opinions of
Baker in the popular press and the broader aspirations for progress
towards racial equality.
*The Root*
New Josephine Baker biography chronicles her 'labor on screen' as
the first 'global' black woman film star. . . . Josephine Baker's
Cinematic Prism is available now and details the early days of
Baker's stunning career.
*Atlanta Black Star*
Expertly crafted, Josephine Baker's Cinematic Prism illustrates the
most prominent links between Black cinema, conflicting opinions of
Baker in the popular press and the broader aspirations for progress
towards racial equality.
*The Root*
An insightfully informative work of meticulous research and
painstaking scholarship, Josephine Baker's Cinematic Prism is an
extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to community,
college, and university library Cinematic History, African-American
Studies, and American Biography collections in general, and
Josephine Baker supplemental curriculum studies lists in
particular.
*Midwest Book Reviw*
This academic, but accessible deep dive into her film career and
the impact of her image in the movies is thorough in considering
what influenced her, how she reflected the current culture, and how
she continues to be an influence today. Francis explores how
Baker's performance style was inspired by African dance and blues
singers like Ethel Waters, Ma Rainey, and Clara Smith (with whom
she performed in the US). She put her own comic lens on these
varied influences and presented her take with a boldness that would
later show in the style of top stars like Diana Ross and Beyoncé. .
. . This is an impressively thorough examination of a relatively
short period of Baker's career that nevertheless had a significant
impact on her image and legacy.
*A Classic Movie Blog*
The ability of a figure to be discovered and rediscovered with new
fascination and excitement time and again is the mark of a true
legend. The life and career of the international sensation and
multitalented performer Josephine Baker has thus been solidified. .
. . Josephine Baker's Cinematic Prism follows through with exactly
what it announces as its goal in its first few pages: to "treat
Baker with care and seriousness as a producer of knowledge" (4). .
. . Baker's cinematic prism engenders a way of knowing, thinking,
and seeing that transcends the limits of space-time and
productively reconsiders how Black women's labor can be assessed
and valued. The method through which Francis conducts this
thoughtful, yet rigorous, analysis will hopefully inspire those who
evoke Baker in the future to do so in the same collaborative
spirit.
*Film Quarterly*
In promoting Baker's stature as an American star, Francis has
crafted an impressive and pressingly important book. . . .
Refreshingly contemporary in its orienation, the light that
Josephine Baker's Cinematic Prism opens onto its eponymous star
brings its author's crucial perspective to an essential history of
transnational cinema and performance.
*History*
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