AML 08 29 2013 3 Characteristics African American expressive cultures come from Dislocation forced migration from Africa to the New World o Displacement o Alienation o Not at home where they are currently located Suppression of literacy it was against the law to teach blacks to write therefore they sang and spoke to express themselves o Forbidden from written page and printed text o Vernacular writing down culture in a natural spoken way Example the de Continued racial oppression after emancipation even though slavery was abolished there was still oppression o Cyclic repetition from one generation to the next no progress was made Some problems repeated themselves o Reoccurring nightmare Blacks have a very different view of American than Europeans did Europeans saw America as o Eden o Promise Land o City on a Hill Blacks saw America as o Turmoil o Hellish o Bondage MLK Jr Speech America had promised Americans things that Blacks had been deprived of Terms for this class New Jerusalem Promise Land Canaan Land Heaven Covenant Nation Americans have a special pact or agreement that when they do certain things they will be blessed Doctrine of Linear Progress a philosophy popular during 1800s that says everyone starts at a certain point and if you follow a certain formula you will be able to expect to move up the socioeconomic ladder progressive material success Discussion Does freedom hold the same meaning in all of the spirituals Some want actual heaven Some want a new leader Everyone desires something different Freedom could mean peace love or tranquility Longing for liberation freedom from oppression 1 Otherworldly or Compensatory Person is looking to get to the next world or after life 2 Achieving freedom now 3 Ambivalent language not quite clear what is being referenced o to keep it secret from those unable to understand o and escape plan would have to be veiled or hidden o outside the context of the circle or community it would not be understood o Spirituals could then be used as codes Cultural codes meaning is hidden from those outside the community ambivalent language Slaves singing about heaven in 105 degree heat while picking cotton probably means they want to find a heaven in this life soon now Whites hearing them singing about heaven and they think they are doing a great job converting them Biblical references in the spirituals Gave them a lot of hope Christianity was forced upon them so they may have used it as a code Looking at it as a story telling law Bible was used as rational Slave masters wanted to convert slaves so they were obedient because Christian slaves made good slaves Slaves saw bible stories as oppressive and turned it into empowerment Radical reinterpretation Spirituals City Called Heaven compensatory Heaven oriented Speaker is an alien in exile I am a poor pilgrim of sorrow I m in this wide world alone Mythesized heaven Restoration of torn family ties I Know Moon Rise compensatory Speaker is referencing death and afterlife Peace can come only through death I go to de judgment in de evenin of de day Ezekiel Saw de Wheel Old testament Prophet Ezekiel I m a Rollin Alien in exile theme Displaced Go Down Moses Ambivalent language Just as god delivered to Israel he will to us Analogy between their situation and old testament Israel Radical changing to empower them America as Egypt o Toil bondage oppression Been in the Storm So Long References to being in hell for so long I am a motherless child ruptured family relations Swing Low Sweet Chariot cultural code ambivalent language Coming for to carry me home o Home could be heaven or it could be Canada Pennsylvania Chicago Steal Away to Jesus cultural code ambivalent language Didn t My Lord Deliver Daniel radical reinterpretation If you did it for them why not me Empowering Soon I will be Done compensatory Leaving the troubles of the world Home heaven Blues often times the point of view of a woman Sexuality Men and women conflicted Women sexual orientation Sadness C C Rider Liberal sexual views Married more than once Skilled at sex Rather than cry because he is cheating the woman is going to get a catch the Cannon Ball mobility independence of a woman Slightly autobiographical Flood is more devastating to her because of her race and financial gun and kill him Backwater Blues situation Down Hearted Blues Prove It on Me Blues Wandering man and a staying woman Song about lesbian self affirmation and defiance they must ve been women cause I don t like no men Trouble in Mind Hopeful Closing line expresses the essence of an ironic consciousness on the part of the blues singer Ironic Consciousness Laughing on the outside but Crying on the inside Express ambivalent emotion associated with the blues o Flood o Loss of lover o A long way from hoe o Sad unfortunate tragic o Still hopeful because can be overcome with hope o Coping with contradictions of American society o Singing blues offers a release from the problem Distances the pain and makes it manageable Linguistic Pattern Repeated Down Hearted Blues p52 2nd stanza and 4th stanza o Statement o Repetition of statement with slight variation o Ends with a punch line World in a jug the stopper s in my hand Got the world in a jug the stopper s in my hand Going to hold it baby till you come under my command Frederick Douglass Readings p 385 Paper handout outline of the typical slave narrative Dual purpose of the ex slave writing their stories Entertaining the audience To inspire public outrage amongst the audience 18th century slave narratives 1700s 1 Presence of a conventional narrative structure which resembled a short story or a novel o began with background information life in Africa o complication phase kidnapping of innocent people o climax escape o conclusion life after 2 Presence of an Anglicized narrator o Christian or Anglicized name o Plea for acceptance no difference besides our skin color o o This was all because the writers had predominantly white 3 Narrator tends to present themselves as a wandering hero heroin o journeying from one place to the next when actually they audiences are being enslaved 4 Object of criticism is the slave trade not the institution of slavery 2 historical events that mark a transition from 18th century to the 19th 1 African Slave Trade Act 1807 Thomas Jefferson signed it in 1807 made it illegal to import African slaves to the US William Lloyd Garrison publishes an abolitionist newspaper in 1831 The Liberation portrays the torture and