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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Folk Music In New England: A Living Tradition, Monica Diane Littlefield
Folk Music In New England: A Living Tradition, Monica Diane Littlefield
Masters Theses
This master’s thesis investigates traditional folk music in New England in an effort to recognize its current practices and understand how this music creates and reflects identity for participants. Often described as a living tradition, folk music culture is deeply embedded in a historical context but is constantly shaped by musicians that play it today. During fieldwork in Vermont and Maine I examine this relationship between the music and musicians, recognizing that folk music provides a holistic experience that is deeply meaningful to participants. With an emphasis on fiddle and via an outsider lens, I discover what a beginner can …
"Only The Name Is New:" Identity, Modernity, And Continuity In Afghan Star, Timothy Olson
"Only The Name Is New:" Identity, Modernity, And Continuity In Afghan Star, Timothy Olson
Masters Theses
In 2005 a televised singing competition took Afghanistan by storm. In a nation previously known for censorship of music and violations of women’s rights, a new precedent began to take shape. People of all ages and ethnic groups followed Afghan Star and cast their votes by mobile phone—a technology that had only recently become available. Though followed by a sea of controversy, Afghan Star has persisted for more than a decade and remains one of the most popular television programs in Afghanistan. Prior to the Taliban, Afghanistan already had a vibrant musical culture, but most people felt that playing music …
Sounding Identity: Soundscapes, Music, And Technoculture In The Chinese Diaspora Of Panama, Corey Michael Blake
Sounding Identity: Soundscapes, Music, And Technoculture In The Chinese Diaspora Of Panama, Corey Michael Blake
Masters Theses
Present in Panama since the 19th century, the Chinese diaspora in Panama City, Panama represents an empowered community of individuals who identify as both Chinese and Panamanian. These Chinese Panamanian hybrid identities emerge within sonic environments through an engagement with transnational media and digital technologies, notably within retail stores. Specifically, music surfaces as an especially important sonic marker of the Chinese Panamanian hybridity. Within the mall of the Panamanian Chinatown of El Dorado, an interesting mixture of both Chinese and Latin American popular music genres sounds throughout the various stores. This mixture of music genres demonstrates Chinese Panamanian agency …
Disruptive Voices In The American Musical Discourse: Comic Song Performance In The American Parlor, 1865-1917, Kevin Steven O'Brien
Disruptive Voices In The American Musical Discourse: Comic Song Performance In The American Parlor, 1865-1917, Kevin Steven O'Brien
Masters Theses
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the American song sheet industry vastly increased in size. This mass mediated form reached a broad number of consumers, who performed this music in their homes, identified with it, and shaped the new discourse on their identity as they did so. Simultaneously, Americans were re-shaping their cultural conceptions of music, in a process Lawrence Levine chronicled as the emergence of “highbrow” and “lowbrow” distinctions. Performing music in the culturally sacralized space of the parlor was meant to be an edifying experience and a display of genteel, “highbrow” identities. Performing comic songs (comic …