英語畢業(yè)論文66=爵士樂—二十世紀(jì)美國社會文化的一面鏡子

1、英語畢業(yè)論文66=爵士樂二十世紀(jì)美國社會文化的一面鏡子 爵士樂二十世紀(jì)美國社會文化的一面鏡子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 improvisa

2、tions on basic tunes and chord 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

3、 Jazz gets its first-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

4、that America 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 ha

5、s its own 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 AmericaKey Word

6、sAmerica society jazz culture reflection 摘要爵士樂是19世紀(jì)末起源于南美新奧爾良的一種音樂形式它以強勁而靈活的旋律為構(gòu)架在節(jié)奏與和音形式的基礎(chǔ)上配合個人和集體的一種即興表演越到后來爵士樂的風(fēng)格越復(fù)雜諧和20世紀(jì)20年代到90年代爵士樂發(fā)展得很快并且在不同的時期有著不同的特點作為美國的一種音樂形式爵士樂反映了美國社會文化不同時期的情況20世紀(jì)20年代時爵士樂得到了初步的發(fā)展爵士樂將非洲與歐洲的元素相結(jié)合并融合成為新的文化顯示出了美國特有的音樂表現(xiàn)特色爵士樂是一種純的美國黑人音樂因為在這個時期美國獨占了這項藝術(shù)在20世紀(jì)6070年代爵士樂有了新的發(fā)展一些新

7、的音樂元素融入到了爵士樂這些融合是美國社會發(fā)展的結(jié)果它顯示了此時的美國已不在獨占爵士樂這個舞臺爵士樂正在悄悄的走向世界在這二十年里爵士樂時而憂傷時而強勁的旋律以及令人絕望的歌詞揭露了二戰(zhàn)后動蕩的美國社會和美國人矛盾的心情到20世紀(jì)8090年代時幾乎每個歐洲國家因為文化的差異都有了各自的爵士樂風(fēng)格美國社會與文化的多元發(fā)展帶來了爵士樂的多元化爵士樂的多元發(fā)展則展現(xiàn)了不同的文化與思想在美國的共存與發(fā)展關(guān)鍵詞美國社會爵士樂文化反映IntroductionJazz is a treasure of American culture which originated from New Orleans of

8、 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 people And there is a great variety of mu

9、sical 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 together as if there is a party of sounds Then the pla

10、yer 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 their own musical mind and emotions into the performance

11、 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 is also a free music form in which there is no certain rule rh

12、ythm or way of performance Because of the characters mentioned above it develops very fast in America and later sweeps the whole worldJazz brings together elements from Africa and Europe and then made them an expression of music unique to America And in the 20th century it develops very fast and fol

13、lowed 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 Americas mainstream popular music To some extent Jazzs development witnesses the

14、 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 function of Jazz In the 1920s Jazz gets its first-step development in America it differs

15、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 and improvisational ways of playing are its advantages These advantages bring many listen

16、ers 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 towards life after the First World War And Louis Armstrong the king of Jazz expresses the depres

17、sive 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 and free Jazz appears one after another And in the 1960s-1970s some fresh elements and new techniques are int

18、roduced 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 rhythm tone and accompany Improvisation and personality is the main feature in this period Its wild or soft rhythm im

19、presses 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 passion as the war has exhausted their energy and vigor Accordingly Jazz in this period is filled with decadence and in

20、dulgence 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 demonstration In the 1980s-1990s with the development of American society American musicians do not monopolize Jazz It seems that each

21、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 world In fact this big change is just the result of the influence of pluralism in the society and Jazzs multi-elemental development

22、is just the reflection of the multicultural development of American society and cultureI Jazz a Mirror of American Society and Culturein the 20th CenturyJazz has different characteristics in different periods especially in the 20th century and always serves as a mirror of American society and cultur

23、e In order to demonstrate the reflecting feature of Jazz three big periods of 20th century are taken as a clueA Jazz in the 1920s In the 1920s Jazz gets its first-step development and brings elements from Africa and Europe which are fused together with Jazz into a new music an expression unique to A

24、merica In this period Jazz is a kind of pure American black music and the United States monopolizes this art Jazzs wild rhythms corrupted lyrics expose the decadence and dark life of Americans and truly reflect American society and cultureJazz has a connection to the essence of America in a much mor

25、e fundamental way It is an expression of the African roots of American culture the treasure of American culture a musical medium that exemplifies 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

26、a factor for Jazzs first transmission to America Ralph Ellison perceptively describes the transformation of separate African and European cultures are at the hand of the slavesthe dancing of those slaves who looking through the windows of a plantation manor house from the yard imitated the steps so

27、gravely performed by the masters within and then added to them their own special flair burlesquing the white folks and then going on to 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

28、 amused by the incongruity of tattered blacks dancing courtly steps while missing completely the fact that before their eyes a European cultural form was becoming Americanized undergoing a metamorphosis through the mocking activity of a people partially sprung from America Townsend 78 Out of this fu

29、sion of African elements comes an idea that Americans believe central to their identity namely tolerance Both cultures come 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

30、their way of life This great fusion makes Jazz a distinctly American music Jazz reflects two contradictory facets of American 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

31、 these groups does together listening to each of other players and building on their contributions to create the music 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

32、as an important part of American culture is based on real peoples and things and is the music from life Through it something more about America is known to the worldIn the 1920s Jazz gets its primary development and this distinctly American music quickly finds its way to the whole America Its wild r

33、hythm improvisational performing and changeable tone give listeners a fresh feeling and it abandons 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

34、them in it completely Jazzs every note makes them crazy and then the word JAZZMAD comes into 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

35、inner heart Louis Armstrong the king of Jazz expresses the sad mood in his songs like 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 he

36、ll when the sun goes down cold day in helland points the peoples life is as evil 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&qu

37、ot; to express the yearning for a happy and peaceful life As for the band feature it is 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

38、with the real social life of Americans In this period America has experienced the 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 fa

39、ilure of western civilization The young people try to do everything to escape 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 t

40、he war and likened it to what the poet Ezra pound called an old bitch had gone in the teetha 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

41、very young people with their new ways of dressing their 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 Gre

42、at Gatsby he isnt only a representative character 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 A

43、mericas powerful optimism vitality and individualism 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

44、 destroyed by the war It is this life style 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 1920sB Jazz in the 1960s-1970sJazz i

45、n this two decades are merged with 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

46、 new cultures new ideas are brought to America which brings about multiculturalism of AmericaIn 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

47、1960s free Jazz 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

48、 offers more 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

49、Davis 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 the fu

50、sion 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 the world qui

51、etlyThe 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 huge benefits to America

52、 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 not sound as sweet as the

53、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 practiced everywhere Meanwhile the infl

54、uence 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 strict social conformity leads to the appe

55、arance 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 colliding I mind all these silent things demonstrate

56、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 peopleC Jazz in the 1980s-1990sIn the 1980s-1990s with the help of internet Jazz sweeps over the whole world and nearly every

57、country has its own style of Jazz Jazzs multi-elemental development becomes the main trendIn 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 genres such as bluegrass metal country and southern blues have s

58、pliced 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

59、 of the two decades is called music of modern creation New technology various electronic instruments and advanced recording equipment almost exhaust Jazzs fusion completely in style And in the so-called modern creative music there is little of Jazzs original elements On the contrary in the two decades the elements of any music style can be found in Jazz The development of the society accelerates the changes of Jazz and in turn Jazzs development demonstrates the societys progressCompared to Jazz in the 1920s 1960s 197