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How the social construction of race has varied across cultures
Racism in music
Cultural identity in music
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Chu Chen Music and Racial identities Race, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits (“Merriam-Webster” 2016). “The concept of race, as a construct distinguishing one group of humans from another on the basis of shared biological appearances, emerges from a legacy of human-different making that traces across humanity” (Radano and Bohlman 2000: 10). In my opinion, it is inevitable for musicians to subconsciously incorporate their ideas of racial differences in music making. With the influence of the mass media, racial differences are communicated through music, which then modifies the pre-existing perceptions of racial identities of the audiences. First, I will …show more content…
“Together the matrices of race and music occupied similar position and shared the same spaces in the works of some of the most lasting texts of Enlightenment thought..., by the end of the eighteenth century, music could embody differences and exhibit race…. Just as nature gave birth and form to race, so music exhibited remarkable affinities to nature” (Radano and Bohlman 2000: 14). Radano and Bohlman pointed out that nature is a source of differences that give rise to the different racial identities. As music embodies the physical differences of human, racial differences are not only confined to the differences in physical appearances, but also the differences in many musical features, including language, tonality and vocal expression. Nonetheless, music is the common ground of different racial identities. “In the racial imagination, music also occupies a position that bridges or overlaps with racial differences. Music fills in the spaces between racial distinctiveness….” (Radano and Bohlman 2000:8) Even though music serves as a medium through which different racial identities are voiced and celebrated individually, it establishes the common ground and glues the differences …show more content…
A document from the Ransom Center minstrel collection “The Programme” (Wood’s Minstrel Hall) features many short minstrel plays created for entertainment purposes, among which are “Happy Uncle Tom” and “Dixie’s Land”. It is not hard to see that both of these two plays contains symbols that are associated with African Americans by the whites. Evidently, the creators of these performances incorporated their ideas of racial identities into these shows, which then passed on the messages to the audiences. There are also many sheet music and scores in the Ransom Center minstrel collection, including “Git along home my yaler gall” by the Boston Minstrel. The composer wrote this piece in a light-mooded major key, with a faster 6/8 tempo, intending to portray the image of a happy African American. In the text portion of this piece, many words were intentionally misspelled to exaggerate the presumed accents and lack of education of African Americans. These are all evidence of how the white composers at the time tend to incorporate the common perceptions of the African American from the standpoint of a white person into their compositions. Music is essentially a representation of the
Some scholars theorize that the Middle Passage to the Americas was so traumatic that most African influence was eradicated, and that few traces of Africa exist in African-American music. This “cultural tabulala [sic] rasa” theory is rightfully rejected by many scholars (Wilson 3). The inflow of African people to the New World was brought on by the existence of slavery, and resulted in the creation of a sort of extension of the African continent in a different hemisphere. In his article “The Significance of the Relationship Between [sic] Afro-American Music and West African Music,” music scholar Olly Wilson refutes the tabula rasa theory, and provides extensive examples of the ties that continue to exist between the two distant geographical regions. Another prominent scholar who recognizes the integration of African elements in American musics is Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Though his much deeper and more analytical approach to African musics is divergent from Wilson’s, both scholars acknowledge African diaspora musics and examine them in different ways based on different criteria.
Music is another was that people can have a sense of cultural identity. Gloria also writes about how even the Chicano music portrays the struggles that they have had to endure. Even though there can exist this sense of pride in one’s music, to some Chicanos there was a sense of shame. “In the 50s and 60s, for the slightly educated and agringado Chicanos, there existed a sense of shame at being caught listening to our music”
... Bohlman, Philip V. Music and the Racial Imagination. University Of Chicago Press, Chicago. 2001. Print.
Moreover, the task at hand is not one that is easily accomplished. In order for music to be a hit, it had to be a hit within the white community. The ...
Therefore, to endure the pains and sufferings the slaves had to use music. As illustrated above, the advent of music had far reaching results as it encouraged and gave them hope to continue working. The early music composers are the evidence of existence of early music which in turn has shaped today’s music like the blues and pop lyrics. In this case, the culture of the past has been rescued from getting lost.
Some people consider jazz to be a “black music”, so white musicians should not be included in the history of it. Others think it’s unfair to call jazz a “black music” or that white musicians need to be given more credit in jazz history. DeVeaux argues that jazz music has origins in traditional African musical culture and is based on the experience of African Americans, so it should be considered black music. But at the same time, he also argues that white musicians did play an important role in jazz, both from a consumption and production standpoint. This fact should not be ignored because to do so would be to rewrite history. This should never be done even if doing so might be considered good for social movements. DeVeaux sensitively found a middle ground, so his argument could mean unity for critics who before could only see jazz as either black or white. This article also encourages unity within music and could increase equality in jazz for musicians. Through this groundbreaking article that destroys racial barriers, DeVeaux has successfully answered the question he posed for himself at the beginning of his
Chart-topping artists have long been able to capture America with music videos that feature catchy lyrics, buoyant beats, and a vivacity of visual elements. The appeal of these videos lies in the glorification of celebrity lives, playing on the desire for pleasure amongst viewers. In the quest to address this desire, a pattern of White artists adopting clothing, hairstyles, and language that are attributed to Black culture has manifested. The appropriation that is present in these videos make them a source of capitalism in which a dominant race or class of people are able to simplify cultural rudiments of another for the sake of commercial appeal. These elements are
What would the world be like without music? The world would be a very silent place. Music is in many ways the material of our lives and the meaning of society. It is a reminder of how things were in the old days, a suggestion of how things are, and a view of where society is leading to. Music is the direct reflection of the picture of art, music, and literature. Music can be a way to deliver messages, being poetic, a fine art, or it can just be for entertainment. No matter what it is used for, music is the perfect art there is and there are various types of music; such as classical and romantic. This paper will discuss how classical music and romantic music had a turning point in humanity’s social or cultural development, and how they have
History tells us that music not only helped shape movements, but it further played a major role in how we developed as a civilized society. From primitive sounds and chants, that further helped mankind communicate linguistically, we can assume music developed, rather unintentionally, and gradually with us. To honor my brief brush with Music Appreciation, this research paper will delve into how music has affected and developed with mankind, how humanity has affect it, how it influences American culture, and justifies the notion of how it reflects society’s redeemable wish to sail into further enlightenment.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” It is not a mystery that minorities were oppressed throughout the history of the United States. In 1990 70% of African Americans and Hispanics in their mid to late twenties held a high school diploma or higher compared to the 86% that their white counterparts achieved. The disparities were obvious throughout the decade. The hip-hop culture gave minorities a voice and a realm to express themselves. There were always minorities who experienced the same lives as the majority of America did, but hip hop mainly spoke to those minorities in urban neighborhoods who were entrapped by violence and negativity. Most of these minorities were young people who were reaching the peak of their adolescent years. Their attitudes could be seen in the lyrics of Notorious B.I.G. when he chants, “I don’t want to live no more. Sometimes I hear death knocking at my front door,” in the song “Everyday Struggle.” Without hip-hop music I believe there would be more minority violence because this was the only genre of music that spoke specifically to minorities, especially those in the inner cities. Hip hop was monumental because it did not apply to one group of minorities; every aspect of the minority population was represented by artists who presented different lyrical content and cultural messages. The genre also gave those who were not minorities a look into the insight of those who were being oppressed, ultimately creating some form of understanding. The majority population could never fully understand the minority population because they never would have the opportunity to experience ...
The book is divided into four chapters: 1) Humanly Organized Sound, 2) Music in Society and Culture, 3) Culture and Society in Music, and 4) Soundly Organized Humanity. In chapter one, Blacking discusses the analysis of sound. He begins by describing music as humanly organized sound. His overarching theme is that “the function of tones in relation to each other cannot be explained adequately as part of a closed system” (30). In other words, music can’t be analyzed simply by one set of rules. This is because every single culture has a different system that they use to structure and compose their music. In order to adequately analyze a society’s music we have to study their “system.” We must learn what music means to them. Then, and only then, can we accurately and completely analyze what a particular type or piece of music means to a particular society and culture.
The music industry’s history is a convoluted mess. There is no real consensus on what the music industry IS and what paths it has taken. Were the Beatles the greatest band to ever exist? Maybe. Is there a hyper objectification of women throughout the “men’s club” that is the music industry? Probably. It’s this hard to define, frankly confusing business that is worth roughly $130 billion dollars today. With it’s flimsy and opaque edges, can the music industry ever be called into question on its wrongdoings? The racist undertone throughout its history may force it to. With the music industry as an ever growing business that seems to change almost every decade, the one thing that has not changed throughout time is an undercurrent of racism that
Music defines our culture. As Americans, we listen to music while we drive our cars, are at work, doing housework, studying, etc. We have songs for special occasions: Christmas, Hanukah, birthdays, weddings, parties, etc. We have taken songs from the various cultures that make us diverse: Arabic, German, Mexican, Native American, etc. We have many genres: country, hip-hop, rap, pop, blues, jazz, rock, heavy metal, etc. And although we may think of music as simple and easy, looking at all this makes one realize how diverse and complex our music truly is. Two things that contribute to this diversity are theme and symbolism.
"Music is a common experience and a large part of societies. In fact, anthropologists note that all human communities at all times and in all places, have engaged in musical behaviours. Music as a mode of human activity is a cultural phenomenon constituting a fundamental social entity as humans create music and create their relationship to music. As cultural phenomeno...
There are different disciplines within the humanities, but there is one that I feel that has influenced my cultural identity the most…music. I say music because from the start music told my culture’s history; informed others about deeds or events that had taken place, also, music was and continues to be important in comforting, healing, and during labor. “African American music has evolved through various eras and styles; the powerful melodic lines and the rhythm (the all-important rhythm) remained prominent and influential” (Powell, 2007, p.1).