In Culture and Imperialism, Said illustrates that we have no "autonomous
cultural forms," but rather "impure" ones that are the products of historically
"discrepant experiences." American culture has an interesting relationship with the
history of imperialism. The Europeans that settled the U.S. imported slave labor to
assist in the growth of the new nation and this practice ironically "hybridized"
American culture despite institutionalized segregation of the races, mixing disparate
cultural ideas in a common social location.
Said's theory fits an analysis of jazz in America since the music was
instigated by the enslavement of native Africans, West Indians and inhabitants of the
Caribbean, and the tensions this produced between traditional European and non-European cultural experiences are emblematic of its evolution into a popular form of
music. Concomitant to its popularity in the later 1930s was a scholarly interest in the
history of jazz, which culminated in narratives ascribing to it a recognizable
"American" history and a set of familiar European aesthetic characteristics, neglecting
the "discrepant experiences" of jazz history.
During the 1940s, some artists were working with musical ideas that
expanded the innovative spaces left open by those preceding them. Criticized for
playing "anti-jazz," they produced music for audiences who were late to realize the
significance of their contributions. Among them was John Coltrane, a saxophonist
who took these controversial approaches into unconventional musical territories.
Similar to the shortsighted criticisms weighed against his mentors, critics regarding
Coltrane neglected the ways in which his music is important as an expression of the
fundamental power struggles that are at the heart of American culture.
I analyze several of Coltrane's recordings to illustrate how they are artifacts
which can be studied for evidence of the tendency in narratives to preclude the "hybridity" important to the history of jazz. My focus is on the liner notes that
accompany the recordings, which I read "contrapuntally" with other forces in their
production in order to discuss the tensions between economics, communication and
representation that are integral to an understanding of Coltrane's music. / Graduation date: 1999
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/33659 |
| Date | 03 May 1999 |
| Creators | Duncan, James Bryan |
| Contributors | Kesler, Linc |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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