英语毕业论文66：爵士乐—二十世纪美国社会文化的一面镜子

1、爵士乐二十世纪美国社会文化的一面镜子jazza mirror of american society and culture in the 20th centuryabstractjazz originates from new orleans of southern america at the end of 19th century, and is characterized by a strong but flexible rhythmic understructure with solo and ensemble improvisations on basic tunes and ch

2、ord patterns and, more recently, a highly sophisticated harmonic idiom. in the 1920s-1990s, jazz develops very fast, and in different periods jazz has different characteristics. as a musical form of america, jazz reflects the situation of american society and culture. in the 1920s, jazz gets its fir

3、st-step development and brings together elements from africa and europe. jazz is a kind of pure american black music because in this period the united states monopolizes this art. in the 1960s-1970s, jazz gets new development; some fresh elements are introduced into jazz, which reveals that america

4、artists do not monopolize the scene and jazz is spread to the world quietly. jazzs sad and strong rhythm and disappointing lyrics reveals a confusing american society and americans contradictory feelings after the second world war. in the 1980s-1990s, it seems that each european country has its own

5、style in jazz for different cultural backgrounds. the melting-pot social and cultural environment brings about jazzs multi-elemental development. in turn, the multi-elemental development of jazz demonstrates the coexistence and co-development of different cultures and ideas in america.key wordsameri

6、ca society; jazz; culture; reflection 摘要爵士乐是19世纪末起源于南美新奥尔良的一种音乐形式。它以强劲而灵活的旋律为构架，在节奏与和音形式的基础上配合个人和集体的一种即兴表演。越到后来，爵士乐的风格越复杂，谐和。20世纪20年代到90年代，爵士乐发展得很快，并且在不同的时期有着不同的特点。作为美国的一种音乐形式，爵士乐反映了美国社会文化不同时期的情况。20世纪20年代时，爵士乐得到了初步的发展。爵士乐将非洲与欧洲的元素相结合，并融合成为新的文化，显示出了美国特有的音乐表现特色。爵士乐是一种纯的美国黑人音乐，因为在这个时期美国独占了这项艺术。在20世纪60，

7、70年代，爵士乐有了新的发展，一些新的音乐元素融入到了爵士乐。这些融合是美国社会发展的结果，它显示了此时的美国已不在独占爵士乐这个舞台，爵士乐正在悄悄的走向世界。在这二十年里，爵士乐时而忧伤时而强劲的旋律以及令人绝望的歌词揭露了二战后动荡的美国社会和美国人矛盾的心情。到20世纪80，90年代时，几乎每个欧洲国家因为文化的差异都有了各自的爵士乐风格。美国社会与文化的多元发展带来了爵士乐的多元化，爵士乐的多元发展则展现了不同的文化与思想在美国的共存与发展。关键词美国社会；爵士乐；文化；反映introductionjazz is a treasure of american culture whic

8、h originated from new orleans of southern america at the end of 19th century. compared to other music forms, it is a unique music form characterized by improvisational performance and changeable rhythm. in terms of the way of performance, jazz isnt only performed by solo but also by a group of peopl

9、e. and there is a great variety of musical instruments involved in the performance, like clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, and trombone and so on. in playing jazz, the percussion instruments are also an important part, such as drum, double bass, and the piano. the entire musical instruments work togethe

10、r as if there is a party of sounds. then the player makes an improvisational dealing with the timbre, cadence of the musical instruments. however, this is not enough; jazz emphasizes more on players distinctive performance than jazz itself. as a special music form, it also requests players to put th

11、eir own musical mind and emotions into the performance. only the sound from heart can make jazz fantastic. especially, its changeable rhythm always brings listeners into another world, and sometimes it is so wild like a strong howling, sometimes it is very soft as a weak patient. in addition, jazz i

12、s also a free music form in which there is no certain rule, rhythm, or way of performance. because of the characters mentioned above, it develops very fast in america and later sweeps the whole world.jazz brings together elements from africa and europe, and then made them an expression of music uniq

13、ue to america. and in the 20th century, it develops very fast and followed the development of american society. however, in different periods, jazz has different characteristics, especially in the 1920s, 1960s, 197os, 1980s and 1990s. in these periods, jazz replaces some popular music forms to be am

14、ericas mainstream popular music. to some extent, jazzs development witnesses the progress of american society and culture. in other words, its development may reflect the development of american society and culture. in this paper, three periods are taken as a clue to demonstrate the reflection funct

15、ion of jazz. in the 1920s, jazz gets its first-step development in america; it differs from other music and injects new blood for american music. jazz is a kind of pure american music because in this period the united states monopolizes this art. its popularity is not contingent, and the wild rhythm

16、 and improvisational ways of playing are its advantages. these advantages bring many listeners for it in which people can throw away all social conventions, rules and indulge themselves completely. through it, disappointment and resistance are brought to players. the mood reflects peoples attitude t

17、owards life after the first world war. and, louis armstrong, the king of jazz, expresses the depressive mood in his songs like lonesome road, on the sunny side of the street, hotter than that, snake rag. then in the following few years, jazz gets some new developments, and swing, bebop, cool jazz an

18、d free jazz appears one after another. and in the 1960s-1970s some fresh elements and new techniques are introduced into jazz, making jazz more powerful and advanced. compared with jazz in the 1920s, the requirement for players is improved. it changes the past playing ways of following certain rhyth

19、m, tone and accompany. improvisation and personality is the main feature in this period. its wild or soft rhythm impresses the audience greatly. after world war, americans lived a idle and scared life. material spending becomes their only way of living, especially the young men have no ambition and

20、passion as the war has exhausted their energy and vigor. accordingly, jazz in this period is filled with decadence and indulgence. the musician miles davis expresses the mood best in his music in a silent way. meanwhile, the sentimental rhythm in jazz, wild and strong, can also be the best demonstra

21、tion. in the 1980s-1990s, with the development of american society, american musicians do not monopolize jazz. it seems that each european country has its own style in jazz for different cultural backgrounds. jazz of this period is not a pure american music but a multi-elemental music of the whole w

22、orld. in fact, this big change is just the result of the influence of pluralism in the society, and jazzs multi-elemental development is just the reflection of the multicultural development of american society and culture.i. jazz a mirror of american society and culturein the 20th centuryjazz has di

23、fferent characteristics in different periods, especially in the 20th century, and always serves as a mirror of american society and culture. in order to demonstrate the reflecting feature of jazz, three big periods of 20th century are taken as a clue.a. jazz in the 1920s in the 1920s, jazz gets its

24、first-step development, and brings elements from africa and europe, which are fused, together with jazz, into a new music, an expression unique to america in this period, jazz is a kind of pure american black music and the united states monopolizes this art. jazzs wild rhythms, corrupted lyrics expo

25、se the decadence and dark life of americans, and truly reflect american society and culture.jazz has a connection to the essence of america in a much more fundamental way. it is an expression of the african roots of american culture, the treasure of american culture, a musical medium that exemplifie

26、s the culture of the africans whose culture came to dominate much of what is american. actually, in many aspects americas roots are in africa. in fact, this is a factor for jazzs first transmission to america. ralph ellison perceptively describes the transformation of separate african and european c

27、ultures are at the hand of the slaves:“the dancing of those slaves who, looking through the windows of a plantation manor house from the yard, imitated the steps so gravely performed by the masters within and then added to them their own special flair, burlesquing the white folks and then going on t

28、o force the steps into choreography uniquely their own. the whites, looking out at the activity in the yard, thought that they were being flattered by imitation and were amused by the incongruity of tattered blacks dancing courtly steps, while missing completely the fact that before their eyes a eur

29、opean cultural form was becoming americanized, undergoing a metamorphosis through the mocking activity of a people partially sprung from america.” (townsend 78)out of this fusion of african elements comes an idea that americans believe central to their identity, namely tolerance. both cultures come

30、to realize each others value. in the heart of americans, diversity is their strength. americans learn every day that other cultures and peoples may make valuable contributions to their way of life. this great fusion makes jazz a distinctly american music. jazz reflects two contradictory facets of am

31、erican life. on the one hand the band features a soloist who is an individual at the extreme. on the other hand it is a team effort, where every musician is completely immersed in what these groups does together, listening to each of other players and building on their contributions to create the mu

32、sic whole. in the same sense, american life is also a combination of teamwork and individualism, a combination of individual brilliance with the ability to work with others. in a word, jazz, as an important part of american culture, is based on real peoples and things, and is the music from life. th

33、rough it, something more about america is known to the world.in the 1920s, jazz gets its primary development, and this distinctly american music quickly finds its way to the whole america. its wild rhythm, improvisational performing and changeable tone give listeners a fresh feeling, and it abandons

34、 traditional music forms and outdated performing ways to separate itself with other music. in this period, ragtime, dixieland as a branch of new orleans impresses every american and the young man indulge them in it completely. jazzs every note makes them crazy, and then the word “jazzmad” comes into

35、 being in america. its rhythm sometimes sounds like howling for escaping the tightened rope and sometimes is so grave like a weak patient. the changeable rhythm seems to expose the contradictory sides of their inner heart. louis armstrong, the king of jazz, expresses the sad mood in his songs, like

36、lonesome road, on the sunny side of the street, hotter than that, snake rag and etc. for example, in the song of hotter than that, louis repeats the word hotter hotter, hotter, hotter; hotter than hell, hotter than hell, when the sun goes down, cold day in hell”and points the peoples life is as evil

37、 as the hell and their inner hearts are contradictory under the war. and, another song on the sunny side of the street is filled with beautiful things, and louis repeats the sentence on the sunny side of the street to express the yearning for a happy and peaceful life. as for the band feature, it is

38、 solo, and it requests players to put their own heart and find their playing styles in jazz. improvisation and particularity are the main characters. as the saying goes, art is from life; as a music form, jazz connects with the real social life of americans. in this period, america has experienced t

39、he first world war, and the domestic situation is unstable. the whole society is under the shadow of fear and disappointment. the war, especially for those who has witnessed it firsthand, is brutal and represents a profound failure of western civilization. the young people try to do everything to es

40、cape responsibilities, because after the first world war, there is a general prosperity in america, and they are tired of politics, economics, restrictions and international responsibilities. they are angry with the consequences of the war and likened it to what the poet ezra pound called “an old bi

41、tch had gone in the teeth.a botched civilization” ( townsend 68). in 1920, f. scott fitzgerald, in his novel this side of paradise, describes the wild, rebellious young men and women after the first world war, and he makes a true portrait of the very young people with their new ways of dressing, the

42、ir disregard of manners and propriety. and in his another novel all the sad young men, he makes a beautiful metaphor of the country which seems to be blind and deaf to everything. and the very man for this sentence is gatsby, the hero of novel the great gatsby; he isnt only a representative characte

43、r of materialism but also a devout follower of american dream. in this novel, f. scott fitzgerald reveals the corruption that wealth causes and the unworthiness of gatsbys goal, much in the way the writer sees the american dream crumbling in the 1920s, as americas powerful optimism vitality and indi

44、vidualism become subordinated to the moral pursuit of wealth. then in ernest hemingways full-length novel the sun also rises, he also dramatizes the sense of lost direction for this generation after the war. the young mens energies are exhausted by the war and destroyed by the war. it is this life s

45、tyle that gives the decade of the 1920s such nickname as “the jazz age”. so, jazz of this period is just the embodiment of corruption, fear, and disappointment of americans and demonstrates the real face of american society in the 1920s.b. jazz in the 1960s-1970sjazz in this two decades are merged w

46、ith some fresh elements and gradually develops to a multi-elemental music. jazzs new development witnesses the development of american society and culture. in the two decades, america develops very fast and becomes the strongest country of the world. because of immigration, new cultures, new ideas a

47、re brought to america, which brings about multiculturalism of america.in the 1960s-1970s, jazz continues to explore its way to every corner of america and even the whole world. since 1920s, different forms of jazz, such as swing, bebop, and cool jazz appear one after another. in the 1960s, free jazz

48、 appears and begins to be popular. the great musician coleman changes the past ways of composing music according to certain rhythm, accompany and harmony. jazz requests improvisator to give vein to all their energies and passion. jazz of this period puts more emphasis on improvisation and offers mor

49、e space to players. and rocks instruments, volumes, and styles are introduced into jazz, and fusing jazz sprouts at the narrow space of jazz and rock. in 1965, the fusing jazz becomes a member of jazz family. its earliest and famous fusing experiments are done in the recording of musician miles davi

50、s “in a silent way”. this kind of music style provides the original art with new appreciative points of view. and in the 1970s, jazz and blues grow up in america together and they both convene finally at a fusion. this is another great fusion in jazz. the fusion injects jazz with new blood. after th

51、e fusion, jazzs tone is still agile, sometimes it is loud and sonorous; sometimes it is bold and unrestrained. in terms of the performance, solo is not the only way, instead, team efforts also become the band features. at this time, american artists do not monopolize the scene and jazz is spread to

52、the world quietly.the development of jazz has a close connection with the progress of the society. america is a country of immigrants, and every year thousands of immigrants, with their different cultures and traditions, come here to fulfill their “america dream”. immigration has plainly brought hug

53、e benefits to america. these new cultures interact with american culture, and this multicultural state of american society is just americas particularity and advantage. although america doesnt monopoly the art of jazz, jazz is still the treasure of american culture. however, jazz of this period does

54、 not sound as sweet as the promises of american dream. in jazz, the sound of emptiness and corruption is echoed. after the second world war, a buying spree becomes a central feature of american postwar life. people vie with each other to buy all kinds of consume goods. materialism is felt and practi

55、ced everywhere. meanwhile, the influence of the war continues to exist and patriotism refuses to tolerate dissents. the cold war and international confrontation limit the freedom of social dissidents whose criticism of government policies might be labeled as communist propaganda. opposition to stric

56、t social conformity leads to the appearance of “the beat generation”. the musician miles davis expresses the mood best in his music “in a silent way. silent partner, silent regrets, silent movie, on silent wings, my silent undoing, silent angel, silent nation, silent prayer, my silent love, collidin

57、g i mind.” all these silent things demonstrate the players inner contradiction, struggle, disappointment for american society and rules. obviously, jazz in the two decades is the embodiment of the depressive life of american people.c. jazz in the 1980s-1990sin the 1980s-1990s, with the help of inter

58、net, jazz sweeps over the whole world, and nearly every country has its own style of jazz. jazzs multi-elemental development becomes the main trend.in the two decades, jazz has caught on to the audience like wildfire. what once was a pure american genre now is seeping into other countries. other gen

59、res, such as bluegrass, metal, country, and southern blues have spliced them into jazz. within the two decades, it seems that each european country has its own style in jazz for different cultural backgrounds. jazz can be found in us, uk, france, italy, sweden, denmark, holland, belgium, poland, germany, brazil, argentina, japan, hong kong, and so on. as a matter of fact, the music of the two decades is called music of modern creation. new technology, various electronic instruments, an