The importance of music in the formation of ethnic identity in the context of the African American experience
Abstract
The main objective of this paper is to consider the interconnectedness of music having different meanings in different cultures and identity, both individual and collective, which can be constructed, preserved and transformed through music. Part of collective identity is an ethnic identity that reflects belonging to a particular ethnic group.
Using the example of African Americans, I try to outline the fundamental role of music in the context of the historical development of their ethnic identity. As a theoretical basis, I present an overview of the main ideas and findings of leading ethnomusicologists, such as Alan P.
Merriam, John Blacking, Timothy Rice and Thomas Turino. Their perspectives on music and identity are further reflected in relation to ethnic identity of African Americans considering not only facts from literary sources but results of my own observations and field work as well.
With this study, I would like to contribute to an important, albeit somewhat neglected, field of research in music and identity and at the same time, in the light of contemporary events, to reveal interesting facts from the rich African-American cultural and musical history.