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The N-Word in Music : An American History

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Title: The N-Word in Music : An American History
Description: The minstrelsy play, song, and dance'Jump, Jim Crow'did more than enable blackface performers to spread racist stereotypes about Black Americans. This widespread antebellum-era cultural phenomenon was instrumental in normalizing the N-word across several aspects of American life. Material culture, sporting culture, consumer products, house-pets, carnival games and even geographic landmarks obtained the racial slur as a formal and informal appellation. Music, it is argued, was the catalyst for normalizing and disseminating those two ugly syllables throughout society, well beyond the environs of plantation and urban slavery. This weighty and engaging look at the English language's most explosive slur, described by scholars as the'atomic bomb'of bigoted words, traces the N-word's journey through various music genres and across generations. The author uses private letters, newspaper accounts, exclusive interviews and, most importantly, music lyrics from artists in the fields of minstrelsy, folk, country, ragtime, blues, jazz, rock'n'roll and hip hop. The result is a reflective account of how the music industry has channeled linguistic and cultural movements across eras, resulting in changes to the slur's meaning and spelling.
Authors: Todd M. Mealy
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: Music and language--United States--History, Invective--United States--History, Popular music--Social aspects--United States--History, Music and race--United States--History, African American comedians, African Americans in popular culture
Categories: MUSIC / History & Criticism, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
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Header DbId: nlebk
DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
An: 3282200
RelevancyScore: 1110
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: eBook
PubTypeId: ebook
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  Data: The N-Word in Music : An American History
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  Label: Description
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  Data: The minstrelsy play, song, and dance'Jump, Jim Crow'did more than enable blackface performers to spread racist stereotypes about Black Americans. This widespread antebellum-era cultural phenomenon was instrumental in normalizing the N-word across several aspects of American life. Material culture, sporting culture, consumer products, house-pets, carnival games and even geographic landmarks obtained the racial slur as a formal and informal appellation. Music, it is argued, was the catalyst for normalizing and disseminating those two ugly syllables throughout society, well beyond the environs of plantation and urban slavery. This weighty and engaging look at the English language's most explosive slur, described by scholars as the'atomic bomb'of bigoted words, traces the N-word's journey through various music genres and across generations. The author uses private letters, newspaper accounts, exclusive interviews and, most importantly, music lyrics from artists in the fields of minstrelsy, folk, country, ragtime, blues, jazz, rock'n'roll and hip hop. The result is a reflective account of how the music industry has channeled linguistic and cultural movements across eras, resulting in changes to the slur's meaning and spelling.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Todd+M%2E+Mealy%22">Todd M. Mealy</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Music+and+language--United+States--History%22">Music and language--United States--History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Invective--United+States--History%22">Invective--United States--History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Popular+music--Social+aspects--United+States--History%22">Popular music--Social aspects--United States--History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Music+and+race--United+States--History%22">Music and race--United States--History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22African+American+comedians%22">African American comedians</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22African+Americans+in+popular+culture%22">African Americans in popular culture</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22MUSIC+%2F+History+%26+Criticism%22">MUSIC / History & Criticism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22SOCIAL+SCIENCE+%2F+Cultural+%26+Ethnic+Studies+%2F+American+%2F+African+American+%26+Black+Studies%22">SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies</searchLink>
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
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      – Code: 306.48420973
        Scheme: ddc
        Type: prePub
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Music and language--United States--History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Invective--United States--History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Popular music--Social aspects--United States--History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Music and race--United States--History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: African American comedians
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: African Americans in popular culture
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: The N-Word in Music : An American History
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          Name:
            NameFull: Todd M. Mealy
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            NameFull: Todd M. Mealy
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2022
            – D: 14
              M: 06
              Type: profile
              Y: 2022
          Identifiers:
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9781476687063
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9781476646497
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: The N-Word in Music : An American History
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