From Revival to Remix: Norwegian American Folk Music and Song.
详细信息
文摘
This project examines Norwegian American folk music in the Upper Midwest from the folk music revival period in the 1960s and 70s to the present day. It considers the ways in which one ethnic tradition has continued in a multi-ethnic context and examines creolized,modernized,as well as historically reimagined forms of this music. The mid-twentieth century folk music revival in American popular culture contributed to a set of conditions that made renewed interest in folk traditions among Norwegian Americans possible. The Norwegian American revitalization is distinctive not only because of its specific ethnic focus but because those individuals who took up the revitalization were themselves immersed in the ethnic community. Younger musicians who advanced the revitalization at this time were not merely performers but have become expert sources of this music in the Upper Midwest,also serving as archivists,self-taught folklorists,documentarians,and scholars in the field； in essence,curators of their own traditions. This work also addresses how Norwegian American folk music has progressed since the revival period of the mid-twentieth century. It acknowledges the creative impulses still at work among musicians who not only preserve musical traditions but continue to experiment with them to keep them current and relevant. These musicians reflect a continued desire for an ethnic identity,providing a connection to cultural experiences that are not constrained by language-based art forms.