The blues, as discussed in this upper-level seminar, are seen not just as a musical style, but rather as a technique to nurture and sustain moral and cultural alternatives to dominant, white values. In many ways the blues musicians of the 1920s and 1930s (the principal focus of this course) can be viewed as preservers and purveyors of African Americans' own epistemology, their own theories of social change, and their own theories of class. It is the intent of this course to provide a dialogue in which we will uncover how blues musicians manifested these cultural modes and processes within their music, for embedded in both their musical works and life stories is a process of social and ideological re-accentuation. That is, we will examine their lives and works as a 'classic text:' a collective that has been continually utilized by both white and African American cultures to make sense of its social, political, economic, racial, gender, etc., circumstances, and to re-accentuate them through various responses to them. It is through an intersectional approach such as this that we will uncover how discrete forms and expressions of oppression, and responses to it, shape, and are shaped by, one another. Further, as suggested above, we will also see how blues musicians served almost as 'Delta social workers' by using their music to participate in self-evaluation and self-definition, thereby allowing the preservation of a degree of self-esteem against racism.
Course Requirements: Students are required to keep a journal, handed in and graded weekly, write three reaction papers, and produce a capstone project and final paper.
Class Format: Three hours per week in seminar format.