The (Mis)Representation of African American Music

The Role of the Fiddle

Bibliographic Data

ID5765859
AuthorsJacqueline Cogdell Djedje (John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume10
Issue1
Pages1-32
Publication date2016-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the Society for American Music (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1752-1963 • E-ISSN: 1752-1971
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1752196315000528
OpenAlexW2605153786
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited46

During the early twentieth century, research on African American music focused primarily on spirituals and jazz. Investigations on the secular music of blacks living in rural areas were nonexistent except for the work of folklorists researching blues. Researchers and record companies avoided black fiddling because many viewed it not only as a relic of the past, but also a tradition identified with whites. In the second half of the twentieth century, rural-based musical traditions continued to be ignored because researchers tended to be music historians who relied almost exclusively on print or sound materials for analyses. Because rural black musicians who performed secular music rarely had an opportunity to record and few print data were available, sources were lacking. Thus, much of what we know about twentieth-century black secular music is based on styles created and performed by African Americans living in urban areas. And it is these styles that are often represented as the musical creations for all black people, in spite of the fact that other traditions were preferred and performed. This article explores how the (mis)representation of African American music has affected our understanding of black music generally and the development of black fiddling specifically

Black music · Blues · Jazz · Representation · Music History and Culture · Race, History, and American Society · Theater, Performance, and Music History

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