英語本科畢業(yè)論文黑人之音—美國黑人的布魯斯與說唱

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1、 本科畢業(yè)論文 黑人之音—美國黑人的 布魯斯與說唱 學生姓名： 學生學號： 200320207054 院（系）： 外國語學院 年級專業(yè)： 2003級英語本科5班 指導教師： 二〇〇七年五月 The Voices of the Blacks —Blues and Rap Wang Wei Under the Supervision of Yuan Bin School

2、 of Foreign Languages and Cultures Panzhihua University May 2007 攀枝花學院本科畢業(yè)論文 Contents Contents Abstract I Key Words I 摘 要 II 關鍵詞 II Introduction 1 I. Blues as the Voice of the Blacks 2 A. The Original Blues 2 B. Blues in the 20th Century and its Social Function 3 1. Blue

3、s in the1920s 3 2. Blues in the 1940s--1960s 3 3. Blues in the 1980s 5 II.Rap as the Voice of the Blacks….............................................................................7 A. Rap in the 20th Century and its Social Function.…………………....…………...7 1. The Birth of Rap………………………………………………………

4、………..7 2. Rap in the 1970s-1990s………………………………………………………...7 B. Rap in the 21st Century……………………….……………………………...….10 Conclusion....................................................................................................................12 Ackonwledgements......................................

5、................................................................14 Notes……..........................................................................................................……15 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….16 攀枝花學院本科畢業(yè)論文 Abstract Abstract Along with the policy of re

6、form 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 don’t accept them and believe that they don’t belong to music, let alone art. As time flies, Blues and R

7、ap 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 not been treated fairly and equally as the Whites, and the social lives of the Blacks wou

8、ld 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 Blacks in America. Key Words Blues; Rap; the blacks; discrimination; voices

9、 Ⅰ 攀枝花學院本科畢業(yè)論文 摘要 摘　要 隨著改革開放，在中國人們已經(jīng)逐漸接受了外國音樂, 其中起源于美國黑人的布魯斯和說唱是最為流行的音樂形式。很久以前，白人排斥它們并且不認為這屬于音樂，更談不上是藝術。但隨著時間的流逝，布魯斯和說唱已經(jīng)流傳于整個美國甚至全世界。然而盡管黑人音樂已經(jīng)得到人們的認可和接受，但種族主義的幽靈仍然在美國游蕩，美國黑人仍未能享受到同白人一樣的公平待遇，其社會地位并沒有得到真正意義上的提高。本文試圖在分析布魯斯和說唱的起源和發(fā)展以及其在各

10、階段所展現(xiàn)的作為黑人之聲的社會功能的基礎上，探討美國黑人的社會生活狀況。 關鍵詞 布魯斯；說唱；黑人；歧視；心聲 16 攀枝花學院本科畢業(yè)論文 Introduction Introduction Blues 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

11、life, unfair destiny, lost 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 aro

12、und the black communities 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. F

13、rom the perspective of style, 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

14、 of freedom. From the perspective 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 dem

15、onstrates the voices of the Blacks and their social lives in a society where they are discriminated and deprived of equal rights with the Whites. 攀枝花學院本科畢業(yè)論文 Body I. Blues as the Voice of the Blacks A The Original Blues When the Blacks were peddled from Africa to the New World, some specia

16、l African musical elements were also brought 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

17、aspiration of music. Instead, they found many 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 rhym

18、es and various forms of vocal music. In Africa, 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

19、 South America, particularly the area of Mississippi 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

20、feelings, not a fashion to get the understanding 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 speak

21、ing, Blues adopts a direct way to describe their feeling 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 a

22、nd helped Blues absorb new forms of expression and 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 Function 1. Blues in the 1920s In the 20th century, Blues met with new opportunities a

23、nd challenges. In the 1920s, MamiSmith, for the first time, 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.

24、 2. Blues in the 1940s--1960s After World War II, the center of Blues had been moved to big cities such as Chicago. In the region of black inhabitants, the form and manifestation of Blues wasn’t only a social phenomenon in the imperialist society, but also a product with the policy of racial dis

25、crimination of the monopoly capitalist class. In order to extort a high 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

26、poor housing conditions, the blacks almost could not get any living allowances 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 listene

27、rs. To enhance the performance affections in a rowdy pub, singers used 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 urb

28、an Blues music was produced. Its style was based on the Gospel music; 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 Ⅱ.To be a new music form it was destined to be a significant part

29、 in the lives of the young people. Rock depended on its special charm to 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 f

30、or all. However, the Whites were longing for new forms of music. They grew 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

31、 by little, Rock was spread out all over America. At the very beginning, people 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

32、young people danced with music at the invention of new steps in the street. The 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, “Pris

33、ley” is not only a name, but also a symbol of young adulthood, love and art. In 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 reexamin

34、e themselves. In pace with the rise of cultural movements of the youth in the 1960s, 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

35、became a prelude of drugs and sex liberation. Even though Elvis Prisley was a White 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, that’s where you’ll find me hangi

36、ng round. I’ve got this feeling to be free, I pick and choose the life I want, and that’s 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

37、 insensitive. For the Blacks, the love of family and the sympathy of society had become 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 an

38、d inspirations. 3. Blues in the 1980s In the 1980s, Blues achieved a new high tide. A new black star—Michael 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. Michae

39、l was a born singer. He dived into a new execution of his albums and strived to show his elegance. 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 volu

40、me of thriller reached 30 million discs rapidly. It became the best-selling recorded music in the 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; h

41、e locked himself up in his life. He didn’t like to keep his head down in public occasions and especially 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

42、as adults. They ached to perform, practice and work. To a mere child, it was a big challenge to perform 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 tr

43、ue representative of the Blacks. He was enthusiastic and open. He never gave up the pursuit of love and a better life. In the song of the Lady in My Life, it says, “Don’t need any fortune or fame; I just want you close to me. No time for castes in place, or livin’ in make believe. I’d trade it all f

44、or just a rainy day, as long as I know you’ll be there.” The Blacks did not believe in destiny; they had the 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 pu

45、t a curse on them. However, their music was showing their magnificent culture to all people; they need to 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.

46、In fact, discrimination is still critical today. Even if the Blacks work redundantly, they were still discriminated. 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

47、 workers and the rate of occupational disease is higher, too. There is no power in the labor union and most 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

48、the third world of the society. For them, the higher the wall of discrimination is, the deeper the trench is. This is, undoubtedly, the reason why Michael takes a road of entertainment. 攀枝花學院本科畢業(yè)論文 Body II. Rap as the Voice of the Blacks A. Rap in the 20th Century and its Social Funct

49、ion 1. The Birth of Rap Facing the unfair treatment, the Blacks became very angry; they continued to use music to express their 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 pl

50、ays 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, R＆B was just fashionable to America, and Rap was an accessory of Blues. In musical performance, DJ creatively used some voc

51、al mimicries and his own voice in the manifestation, and thus the early Rap was formed. 2. Rap in the 1970s—1990s In the late of 1970s, some singers brought their Rap samples to volunteer their services for big Disc Companies, but at that time it was full of R＆B, and nobody would like to produc

52、e a single song in the new music style. So, some Rap singers recorded their own songs at home, and drove to sell them. Originally, Rap was limited in broadcasting station of black Communities and it was difficult to extend this form of music to the outside world. In 1981, Aaron Fuchs established the

53、 first Rap Single Disc Company –Tuff City Record, to make albums for Rap singers, and made the underground music legalized. Several years later, many big Disc Companies invested abundant money in it. Since then, Rap had jumped out of the Black Communities and spread out all around America. Rap orig

54、inated from African culture, and its content was not as miserable as that of Jazz. Rap also expressed the unfair life, but singers adopted a hard fashion to show it, just like an actionist who was permeated with cynicism. Rap inherited all the characters of African fighting spirit and focused every

55、aspect of the Blacks’ lives in America. Rap was a street music; it mainly expressed the lives of the blacks in slums and the discrimination in the white society. Some lyrics even overturned the trend of the white America. There were many social conflicts between the Blacks and the Whites, so the B

56、lacks use Rap to express their true lives. At that time, though America was already an open society, the government emphasized the necessity of traditional ethics. Rap advertised the privation of life in gutter, the breakdown of social relations, the trend of violence, the flooding of drugs, guns

57、and the desires of pornography. Rap singers reminded the Blacks not to be enslaved by the Whites, not to forget their ethic identity. They sang a different tune to the society, making many officials worried about them. Rap singers considered that they just reflected the status quo of the Blacks, a

58、nd they’d not like to purify the contents of their songs. So, the banning rate of Rap was increasing. However, the entire swan was goose in the situation of execution; it spurred on Rap to be known by more people. Once, a Rap singe Sir Mix-A-Lot said, “People like Rap, not because of its rhyme, beca

59、use people could speak their minds freely, express the truth.” Just as he said, if the content of Rap was changed, the spirit of Rap would be lost. In the 1990s, the most popular black Rap singer was 50cent. He was born in a typical slum where was full of drugs and crimes. Since he was born, he was

60、 scourged. His father died in his childhood, and his mother only cared about trafficking in drugs. When 50cent was 8 years old, his mother died in gas. When he was 12 years old, he came into his mother’s life style, which led to ruin. He cheated his grandpa and grandma, selling marijuana in all dire

61、ctions. In a sense, the experiences of selling marijuana let him get to know the living principle on how to become a brave man. 50cent was captured twice average per three weeks. To him, it was not a proud thing to sell, but it was a social course that made him know he can’t escape forever. In his

62、 heart, 50cent had an eternal dream—to be a Rap singer. Several years later, as long as he was free, he went to his friend’s home where there was a basement to practice the garrulity, and in the twinkling garrulity, 50cent could get back his ego. Through his friend’s introduction, 50cent got acquain

63、ted with Eminem who was a Rap master-hand. He went a step further to learn creative techniques. Thereafter, 50cent started to compile albums. When he became more and more famous, he was attacked by a gunman at the door of his grandma house, in the queen area. After the strolling at the gate of hell,

64、 he realized the living attitude of cherishing. His chin and teeth were badly hurt, but the hurt let him have a unique tune-pattern of Hip Hop unexpectedly. 50cent was determined to keep a distance from drug, and later became superior both in the fields of popular music and Hip Hop. Get Rich or Die

65、 Trin’ was the most popular Rap album in the last ten years. This album included 2 champion songs; 21Question had stayed for 13weeks in seniority. And In Da Club even continued staying for 23weeks. Rap was concerned with topics of drug, violence, and sex. Besides, it was embodied in the album that h

66、appy life only existed in fancy, and pretence was everywhere in truth. Thanks to the social environment, 50 cent was forbidden to do many unmoral stupid things. In the song of what up gangster, it says that, “I’ll hunt or duck a nigger down like its sport, from on me, I’ll cut ya, gun-butt ya or bump ya…I’m the type that’ll kill your connect when the coke price rise…chokes me, I’ll have your mama picking out your casket, bastard.” The rude language deeply reflected the cult of human feelings.