Thats right, in many respects Americas roots are in Africa. Read Ralph Ellisons perceptive description of the transformation of separate African and European cultures at the hands of the slaves:
...the dancing of those slaves who, looking through the windows of a plantation manor house from the yard, im-itated the steps so gravely performed by the masters within and then added to them their own special flair,burlesquing the white folks and then going on to force the stepssintosa choreography uniquely their own. The whites, looking out at the activity in the yard, thought that they were being flat-tered by imitation and were amused by the incongruity of tattered blacks dancing courtly steps, while missing com-pletely the fact that before their eyes a European cultural form was becoming Americanized, undergoing a metamor-phosis through the mocking activity of a people partially sprung from Africa. .
Jazz brought together elements from Africa and Europe, fusing themsintosa new culture, an expression unique to the Americas.
Out of this fusion came an idea that we Americans be-lieve central to our identity: tolerance. Both cultures repre-sented in Ellisons passage eventually came to realize each others value. Americans acknowledge that in diversity is our strength. We learn every day that other cultures and peoples may make valuable contributions to our way of life. Jazz music is the embodiment of this ideal, combining elements from African and European culturesintosa distinctly American music.
【雅思阅读材料:爵士乐与美国精髓】相关文章:
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