英语本科毕业论文-黑人之音—美国黑人的布鲁斯与说唱.doc

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1、 黑人之音美国黑人的 布鲁斯与说唱The Voices of the BlacksBlues and RapWang WeiUnder the Supervision ofYuan Bin School of Foreign Languages and CulturesPanzhihua UniversityMay 2007攀枝花学院本科毕业论文 ContentsContentsAbstractIKey WordsI摘 要II关键词IIIntroduction1I. Blues as the Voice of the Blacks2A. The Original Blues2B. Blues

2、in the 20th Century and its Social Function31. Blues in the1920s32. Blues in the 1940s-1960s33. Blues in the 1980s5II.Rap as the Voice of the Blacks.7A. Rap in the 20th Century and its Social Function.71. The Birth of Rap.72. Rap in the 1970s-1990s.7B. Rap in the 21st Century.10Conclusion.12Ackonwle

3、dgements.14Notes.15Bibliography.16攀枝花学院本科毕业论文 AbstractAbstractAlong with the policy of reform and opening to the outside world, people in China have gradually accepted foreign music, among which Blues and Rap from Afro-Americans are the most popular. At the very beginning, the Whites dont accept the

4、m and believe that they dont belong to music, let alone art. As time flies, Blues and Rap spread rapidly in the U.S.A and then sweep the whole world. However, though the Black music has generally been accepted and beloved in the society, racism is still haunting the United States, the Blacks have no

5、t been treated fairly and equally as the Whites, and the social lives of the Blacks would not be improved substantially. Base on the analysis of the root and development of Blues and Rap and their social functions as voices of the Blacks, the paper tries to demonstrate the social conditions of the B

6、lacks in America. Key Words Blues; Rap; the blacks; discrimination; voices 攀枝花学院本科毕业论文 摘要摘要随着改革开放，在中国人们已经逐渐接受了外国音乐, 其中起源于美国黑人的布鲁斯和说唱是最为流行的音乐形式。很久以前，白人排斥它们并且不认为这属于音乐，更谈不上是艺术。但随着时间的流逝，布鲁斯和说唱已经流传于整个美国甚至全世界。然而尽管黑人音乐已经得到人们的认可和接受，但种族主义的幽灵仍然在美国游荡，美国黑人仍未能享受到同白人一样的公平待遇，其社会地位并没有得到真正意义上的提高。本文试图在分析布鲁斯和说唱的起源和发展以

7、及其在各阶段所展现的作为黑人之声的社会功能的基础上，探讨美国黑人的社会生活状况。关键词布鲁斯；说唱；黑人；歧视；心声16攀枝花学院本科毕业论文IntroductionIntroductionBlues and Rap are typical black music. Blues commonly expresses the blue and depressive emotions of the Blacks. The early musical composition picked up music subject matters of hard life, unfair destiny, l

8、ost ideal and destroyed love. Later, Blues began to express more individual emotions which were produced in the period of industrial civilization, such as fear of death. Rap is a street music. Without support of major radio and music companies, Rap once struggled to spread around the black communiti

9、es of New York, but very soon it swept over America. Most of its words are very incisive and powerful and mainly originate from criminal events of the society, especially the Black communities. In this sense, Rap is just a reflection of the reality of the black communities.From the perspective of st

10、yle, Blues and Rap are the combination of hard and soft music, and with metallic and strong rhythm, giving people an unprecedented impression. From the perspective of content, Blues and Rap are straight and bold with a clear stand. They are the very embodiment of the pursuit of freedom. From the per

11、spective of social function, Blues and Rap deeply show the struggles of the Afro-Americans against racial discrimination and serve as voices of the Blacks. Based on the analysis of their birth, development in different periods of time and these characteristics, the paper demonstrates the voices of t

12、he Blacks and their social lives in a society where they are discriminated and deprived of equal rights with the Whites.攀枝花学院本科毕业论文BodyI. Blues as the Voice of the BlacksA The Original BluesWhen the Blacks were peddled from Africa to the New World, some special African musical elements were also bro

13、ught to America. Those people were born with rhythm and extraordinary musicality. The excellent innate ability was inherited by their later generations who lived in the U.S.A. The Blacks had a hard life in America, but the difficulties never wore away their aspiration of music. Instead, they found m

14、any ways to make music. Working, they sang songs; having a rest, they did it; being happy or sad, they did it; when a baby was born, they sang songs to celebrate; when somebody died, they also did it to see him off.The African music owned some special rhymes and various forms of vocal music. In Afri

15、ca, this style of music was popular. African music was gradually absorbing the characters of string instruments and formed a new music, which was full of sadness. That is Blues. Blues belonged to the pure black folk music. It was mainly spread out in the South America, particularly the area of Missi

16、ssippi triangle. When the first batch of the Blacks was sold there, a blue melody was hovered in their brains.Most early Blues singers got inspirations from their ancestries and sought themes from daily lives. To them, Blues was a way to express their feelings, not a fashion to get the understanding

17、 or sympathy from the white people. So, these characters and qualities endowed Blues a prosperous vitality.The original Blues usually conveyed sad and depressive emotions of the Blacks. In a word, sadness is an eternal theme of Blues. Generally speaking, Blues adopts a direct way to describe their f

18、eeling and emotions from deep heart. In the 19th century, due to the economic disintegration in the south, abundant slaves led a wretched life far from home. So, the Black music was also circulated to other areas, which advanced the spread of Blues and helped Blues absorb new forms of expression and

19、 techniques of manifestation. In the south, Blues began to combine with work songs that were much more dynamic. B. Blues in the 20th Century and its Social Function1. Blues in the 1920sIn the 20th century, Blues met with new opportunities and challenges. In the 1920s, MamiSmith, for the first time,

20、made disc from songs of Blues. Thereby, Blues had gone up on a new stage. At that time, the Blues singers were almost black women. Through their efforts, Blues became a brand-new form of music accepted by more and more popular music lovers.2. Blues in the 1940s-1960sAfter World War II, the center of

21、 Blues had been moved to big cities such as Chicago. In the region of black inhabitants, the form and manifestation of Blues wasnt only a social phenomenon in the imperialist society, but also a product with the policy of racial discrimination of the monopoly capitalist class. In order to extort a h

22、igh profit from the blacks, American monopoly capitalist class pursued a policy of racial discrimination. They droved away millions of Blacks to the slums and put into practice bloody suppression and cruel exploitation. Living in poor housing conditions, the blacks almost could not get any living al

23、lowances or housing loans by the government. In this case, most Black singers had to perform in pubs. For the American Black musicians, the only stage for them was the bars in noisy environments and in the face of drinking listeners. To enhance the performance affections in a rowdy pub, singers used

24、 microphone and electric guitar to sing songs. In the 1950s, the Rhyme and Blues relied on its strongly accented rhythms and intense sense stimulations to make surprising attack on the American popular music circles. Then, the urban Blues music was produced. Its style was based on the Gospel music;

25、and it used intense sound and rhythm to express the noisy city life and roaring machines. Then, another new music appeared: Rock.Rock was produced after World War .To be a new music form it was destined to be a significant part in the lives of the young people. Rock depended on its special charm to

26、conquer the younger generation all over the world. In this period, Rock still only belonged to the Blacks, specially the urban young Blacks. The White class had virtually no chance to come into contact with the Blacks lives for all. However, the Whites were longing for new forms of music. They grew

27、up after World War II. With a sense of indifference and spiritual emptiness, they had been gradually tired of those old noisy songs, and waited for another kind of music which was unrestrained to vent their feelings. Little by little, Rock was spread out all over America. At the very beginning, peop

28、le seemed to have overlooked this kind of music created by the blacks. In 1955, the song of Rock Around The Clock had shocked the popular music circles in the U.S.A. It was the first song sold by white Rock band. Countless young people danced with music at the invention of new steps in the street. T

29、he era of Rock arrived in 1955.Elvis Prisley was the most attractive singer in the history of Rock music. He used to show a frank and clear-cut way to sing the heartfelt wish of the youth. In the heart of the youth, “Prisley” is not only a name, but also a symbol of young adulthood, love and art. In

30、 a sense, Rock changed popular cultures in America, and even in the Western World, while Elvis Prisley made a whole generation of people to be a special group who began to seek a different life style and begin to reexamine themselves. In pace with the rise of cultural movements of the youth in the 1

31、960s, Rock had been noticed once again. In fact, Rock had exceeded the region of old popular music. It was like a religion which only belonged to the youth. Rock had broken the frame of traditional music and dance, and became a prelude of drugs and sex liberation.Even though Elvis Prisley was a Whit

32、e singer, his songs embodied all the good wishes of the Blacks, such as the desire for freedom and happiness. In the song of clambake, it says, “Look for the brightest lights in town, thats where youll find me hanging round. Ive got this feeling to be free, I pick and choose the life I want, and tha

33、ts the life for me. Clambake, goanna have a clambake” For common people, clambake was just an ordinary family action, but it made the Blacks excited. In modern cities, people were likely to become indifferent and insensitive. For the Blacks, the love of family and the sympathy of society had become

34、too luxurious to afford. When their inner world was open, they would feel the wonder of life, feel how delicious the clambake is, and feel how fair the rights are. In this sense, Rock is never lack of thoughts and inspirations.3. Blues in the 1980sIn the 1980s, Blues achieved a new high tide. A new

35、black starMichael Jackson continued the style of Blues. He issued the album Off the Wall, and rapidly became a top singer, and won the Laurel of the best Blues male singers laurel in Grammy Award. Michael was a born singer. He dived into a new execution of his albums and strived to show his elegance

36、. In 1982, he brought out his completely new album Thriller; it put his career into a summit. In it, Billie Jean and Beat It leapt to the first place about 7weeks and 3 weeks respectively. The sales volume of thriller reached 30 million discs rapidly. It became the best-selling recorded music in the

37、 Rock performance. However, behind the brightness and refulgence, it covered a deep loneliness. Michael was obviously different from the true life. To be a public figure, Michael was sensitive and shy; he locked himself up in his life. He didnt like to keep his head down in public occasions and espe

38、cially afraid to be interviewed in the presence of masses. His character and psychology were relative with his experiences in the childhood. In his infancy, Michael and his brothers were forced to live as adults. They ached to perform, practice and work. To a mere child, it was a big challenge to pe

39、rform for hundreds of audiences every night. In this sense, Michael had never had a real childhood. Later, all his past experiences were reflected in his music. Undoubtedly, Michael Jackson was a true representative of the Blacks. He was enthusiastic and open. He never gave up the pursuit of love an

40、d a better life. In the song of the Lady in My Life, it says, “Dont need any fortune or fame; I just want you close to me. No time for castes in place, or livin in make believe. Id trade it all for just a rainy day, as long as I know youll be there.” The Blacks did not believe in destiny; they had t

41、he courage to take the blame for what they did. Their expression of love was frank and honest. Probably thousands of the Whites were complaining about their bluntness; probably the government put a curse on them. However, their music was showing their magnificent culture to all people; they need to

42、express their discontents, angers and dreams, and the best way was to release the passions with music.Now, it is easy to deduce that Michael was a representative of all the Blacks in America. In fact, discrimination is still critical today. Even if the Blacks work redundantly, they were still discri

43、minated. The Black workers work in the most odious section with the lowest salary, and work in the condition of danger; the mortality of the Black workers is much higher than that of the White workers and the rate of occupational disease is higher, too. There is no power in the labor union and most

44、of the Blacks only work as groceries or waiters. The average salary of the Blacks is only half of the whites. Most of the blacks are poor, out of work and penniless because they still live in the third world of the society. For them, the higher the wall of discrimination is, the deeper the trench is

45、. This is, undoubtedly, the reason why Michael takes a road of entertainment.攀枝花学院本科毕业论文 BodyII. Rap as the Voice of the BlacksA. Rap in the 20th Century and its Social Function1. The Birth of RapFacing the unfair treatment, the Blacks became very angry; they continued to use music to express their

46、indignation. As a new form of music, Rap gradually became a major means for them to express their feelings and emotions. In addition to the Rhyme and Blues, Rap also plays a very important role in their lives. It originates from their special accent and sense of rhyme. It was combined with a special form of exhibition of dance.At that time, RB was just fashionable to America, and Rap was an accessory of Blues. In musical performance, DJ creatively used some vocal mimicries and his own voice in the manifestation, and thus the early Rap was formed. 2. Rap in the 1970s1990sIn the late of 1970