The Songs of Souls

[摘要] What could not be taken away from these men, women and children were the memories, souls, cultural traditions, and music of the ;; Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, and the Slave Coast” of West Africa. Therefore, music became a means for their communication. Theirs was the music of tradition: music to that accompany the hunt, religious ceremonies, death, and war; music to make work easier and to celebrate the small things in life, such as a first tooth of an infant. Their music was ;;woven in to the culture, forming a part of ordinary living almost as ubiquitous as speech.” This musical tradition allowed them to survive the initial in dignity of slavery, and is through this music that slaves documented their culture and consciousness. For a time, once settled in the New World, slaves were permitted, or even encouraged, to keep their music alive. The premise was that it ;;kept them happy and docile.”

[发布机构] University of Michigan

[效力级别] United States of America

[关键词] slavery;United States of America;music;work song;spiritual;Liberal Studies