final Flashcards
the 3 Ps of after WW2
Peace (war is over), Prosperity (consumerism, products that make life in the home easier, like hand mixer, tupperware), and Paranoia (afraid of communists, of comfortable life that every has moved into after war changing)-sense of normalcy
What’s going on in the 1950s/after WW2 politically (party splits and changes, trust in gov)
- pretty evenly split in democrats and republicans-slightly more democrats
- only 50% find important differences between the parties (today that number is higher-almost 80%)
- high trust in gov (in 60s, distrust goes way up-Vietnam, watergate)-number of people who don’t trust gov overall increased over time
- change of party in 1960 w Kennedy-democrat
- changes back to republicans after
consumerism in the 1950s
- thousands of serviceman return-new fams, homes, jobs
- higher purchasing power of dollar back then
- growth in consumption-let’s buy things (economies of scale, technology), baby boom growing up, America is prosperous, cars and gas and TVs and stoves cheap (middle class can afford), american products are in demand worldwide
- can buy homes, millions migrated to cheap housing in the suburbs-conformity and convenience prevailed
- Suburban homes-avg. square footage of homes increased over times
- by the end of the 1950s, 2/3 Americans had TVs-by 1954, TV main source of ads-Am. consumer life never the same
overview of advertising
- special form of communication-you are seeing, hearing, and reading simultaneously
- audio includes music, sounds, words
- visual includes images and words
- it’s the union of these effects that makes the powerful, and sometimes misleading
- Emotional. Suggestive.
- 1952: first time presidential candidates campaigned on television-didn’t know what they were doing-but soon use of political ads grew
(political) advertising-how audio is used
- music
- meant to convey things are going great (happy music for candidate endorsing) or scary (when putting down/showing opponent)
- background sounds -birds, water (calming sounds), heartbeats, ticking clocks (for opponent)
- words-text in complete sentences
- often voice overs, rarely in candidate’s own voice-candidates rarely speak in own advertising-more recently added (past 10-15 years) “I’m ___ and I approve this message”-but before candidate didn’t even have to be in ad
(political) advertising-how visuals are used
- images-children, family, meeting and greeting-candidate at work, doing his job
- words
- single words flash on screen
- sources for facts (The New York times said ___)
- slogans
Advertising images in the 1950s-general description and and method and purpose of all the ads
- early ads were black and white
- cartoon images popular-still figuring out how to do TV/ads, live action complicated, not sure exactly how to do it well, animation easier-so lots of animated TV in 50s too
- the car a big part of commercial advertising in 1950s
- arts underscored conformity of decade
- want to evoke sense of comfort (we’re in a comfortable period, people can buy things that make life easier), conformity (everyone should want all these same things)
- concern also big part (concern for/fear of communism, nuclear war)-public opinion: most people think world war iii will happen in their lifetime, and they will not survive it
Eisenhower’s ads (1952 election)
tried to show everyone voting for him-ads represented all diff types of people (except minorities and working women)
- didn’t address issues-just “everyone likes Ike”, catchy, simple, cute cartoon full of symbols like, Stevenson in shadow, on donkey riding away, made fun of Truman- generate enthusiasm, Eisenhower was a war hero, parade
- shows images of Eisenhower as war hero-but advocates for peace, says he can bring it-sense of urgency-speaking loudly (his natural way of speaking-no nonsense military leader), no background music-focuses on change (but doesn’t actually say how he will change gov, how will solve problems)-Eisenhower looks down while person asking question looks up at him-makes him seem powerful-ad starts out with superman feel with words coming onto screen-references end of ww ii-evokes feelings of victory, crediting victory to Eisenhower, get people to be thankful to him-shows small house he grew up in makes him seem “just like you”-not stated, all through image
Stevenson’s ads (1952 election)
- animated, black and white, catchy song-evoke feelings of fear of another depression-saying that republican policies brought us the depression, keep democrats in office to keep things they way they are, not create another depression-not focused much on actual candidate (Stevenson)-remind you who brought you the depression-attack ad
- woman singing, makes it seem private, intimate, 1 woman, seems like she’s talking directly to you-winks-meant to look provocative, attractive-she’s supposed to be a bit hip-she’s not a 1950s housewife-sends message that cool people vote for Stevenson
1960 election, Kennedy vs. Nixon-Kennedy’s ads
- name repeated, used actual pictures of Kennedy and supporters-wider range of people-diff kinds of people-shows him as family man
- Jackie speaking in spanish, appealing to hispanic american population for Kennedy vote, acknowledging there are non white, non english speaking voters-big change from 1952 election-lots of policy content in ad, says JFK will bring peace-crucial period in international relations-potential first lady had more of a role
semiotics
- from the greek semeion, “sign”
- the study of signs and systems of communication-at a personal level, not social
semiotics-How is meaning made?
Sign=Signifier (sound-image) + Signified (concept)
- signifier and signified 2 sides of same coin
- signifier: sound (phonemes) or image (marks)
- /m/ of mat
- /b/ of bat
- signified: concept (thought or representation)
- ”mat” for mat-ness
- ”bat” or bat-ness
- there is no god-given/natural connection between “mat” and what it is/ how you think about what it is-connection between signified and signifier arbitrary and therefore changing-but didn’t talk what this means in society, in culture and stuff
- from denotative sign (language) to connotative sign (myth) -language is the signifier and signified creating the sign, and then when that sign becomes its own signifier, can combine with a signified to make another sign-that second layer is the myth
signs-denotative and connotative signs
- denotative sign/1st order meaning (language), to connotative sign/2nd order meaning (myth)
- language is the signifier and signified creating the sign, and then when that sign becomes its own signifier, can combine with a signified to make another sign-that second layer is the myth
- ex: Paris match cover-1st order meaning (language) is black kid saluting, 2nd order meaning is that France is a great empire and all french of all covers faithfully serve under French flag
signs-referent
the thing itself-real world object-mat or bat outside language
signs-myth
A secondary level of signification, where a
sign (that already has a literal – or
DENOTATIVE - first level meaning) is used to
stand for an aspect of bourgeois society (a
second level - or CONNOTATIVE -
signification).
• Any depoliticized representation or way of
presenting society as if it is a natural given,
and not a result of a certain history and
politics that could have been different.
What is the role of the critic (in judging signs)?
- situate signs (myths) within their contexts
- history, politics, culture, institutions
- attend to the complexity and contradiction of any sign (myth)
- demystify myths-Situate the myth (image) in context-expose the myth (image)
after WWII
- what kind of world will emerge?
- two competing systems of governemnt (
- fundamental differences
- different economies
- different lifestyles
- different beliefs
communist agenda
- revolution of working class
- Is this just theoretical?
- Is this a practical call to arms?
- how do we interpret Soviet action in light of this “goal”? (goal says “national revolution” in the Communist Manifesto book-so other countries felt very threatened by communis)
- conditions our interpretation of Soviet behavior
balance of power
what is balance of power
- a theory? an equilibrium? a goal? a system? a policy? - first, what is power?
relational power
A’s ability to get B to do something it would not otherwise do
material power
capabilities, resources (mainly military), the capacity to raise arms, deploy navies, occupy territories. Things with which states can influence one another
balance of power in cold war
- without outcomes/actual conflict, how can actors assess the balance of power?
- put yourself in Kissinger’s, Eisenhower’s, Kennedy’s position-how do you judge Soviet capabilities? How do you evaluate the Soviet intentions? Do they want to spread communism throughout the world? Are they acting as an aggressor? (Am. doesn’t want to be aggressor, start war, doesn’t know if can win-must figure out theoretically w these Qs) Or are they reacting to what they think is an American role as an aggressor?
- each side sees the other as the aggressor-each side thinks they are merely responding to the aggressor-neither side thinks they are escalating, just responding
- US has to infer USSR intentions from observed behavior, Soviets are doing the same thing
- Given what I know about your goals (or don’t know) how do I interpret your action?
- minimax
minimax
Minimizing your maximum regret
prisoner’s dilemma
-optimal result is neither side builds up weapons (“silent”)
-but neither wants to be caught “silent” while other “defects”-almost every time will reach mass equilibrium cuz increasing arms/defecting is always in best interest in this case-if one “defects” increases arms enough and other doesn’t they may fire, other side will die-so both “defect” by increasing arms
importance in cold war: if both sides have nuclear weapons, there’s a standstill-keep arming, assume other side continuing to arm-so mass equilibrium cuz neither side shoots-the optimal result not really possible, neither side trusts other so neither will disarm (only way both players are silent is if there’s enough trust or a threat involved from before, making the stakes higher-but doesn’t really work in this case, nothing to make 1 side trust other)-both sides want to avoid being blown up
-first goal is to hit missile bases, not cities so other can’t respond-but likely would not destroy them all (didn’t have satellites so didn’t know exactly where all weapons were, going on foreign intelligence), other side could strike back at cities-it’s mutually assured destruction-no one strikes cuz too worried about maximum regret (everyone dying)
Domino Theory
- Soviet army occupied nations in both Eastern Europe and East Asia after WWII
- communism spread to many countries
- the domino theory: if one country (person) fell to communism, another would, and then another, and then another. The spread had to be stopped at every opportunity.
- (if spread, result would be) The creation of a classless, stateless society and the abolition of private property
Containment theory
US would go anywhere communism was spreading, shut it down-like what should have happened with Ebola-communism seen as a plague-why we went into Vietnam-prevent communism from spreading, contain it
- this led to lots of investigations on the home front-wanted to avoid communism from spreading in the US, ostracize those with communist ideas-prevent their ideas from spreading
- to minimize regret, most people were okay with this witch hunt-which is more important, protection of privacy, or not getting blown up?
US paranoia in cold war
- The creation of a classless, stateless society and the abolition of private property-this is what the US is scared of, complete communism, being taken over
- red nightmare
- message: every person must be vigilant: HUAC necessary to maintain vigilance
- Production: Propaganda film made by US Armed Forces with the assistance of the Warner Brothers Studios-lots of propaganda films made
TV in Mccarthy era-2 views
-myth making
-TV production: cautious programming
-TV consumption: audience made into passive consumers of middle class lifestyles
Myth busting (counter-myth?)
-TV production: investigative reporting
-TV consumption: audience exposed to the machinations of power and engaged points of view
Mccarthyism
- extends beyond just the man-exploiting people’s fear/anxiety
- paranoia-accusing everyone of communism-neighbor against neighbor-witch hunt
cold war-the arms race
The result of the whole prisoner’s dilemma is a cycle of increasing capabilities,
escalating stores of weapons (Arms Race)
– More missiles, longer ranges, better weapons, stronger
armies, better technology
– And both sides think they have no choice, they are just
“keeping the balance”
– But with so many weapons sitting out there … mutually assured destruction
HUAC
standing committee of the US House, investigates un-American activities
– 1930s: investigate U.S. Nazis
– 1940s-1970s: investigate U.S. Communists
– McCarthy not affiliated (he is a Senator)
– however, HUAC after McCarthy associated with “McCarthyism”
Anti-anti-communist response in U.S.
- some people did protest mccarthyism
- 1950s: See It Now (Edward R. Murrow and See It Now)
- 1960s: Dr. Strangelove
- 1960s: Berkeley “Free Speech Movement”
Why Study Literature
- enhance our mastery of storytelling techniques (literary production)
- understand how storytelling techniques make meaning (literary interpretation)
How to read like a literary critic
- What meaning is being made? (content)
- How is meaning being made? (form)
How is meaning made?
- What does literary form (“how”) complement literary content (“what”)?
- Where does literary form (“how”) challenge presumed content (“what”)?
What’s inside the literary critic’s toolbox?
- basic literary genres
- widely used literary devices: allusion, metaphor, narrative structure, Point of view
- elements of literary history
- author’s biography
- marketplace for art
- artistic cross-currents
- politics
- prominent aesthetic conventions & ideas
- realism
- modernism
- postmodernism
Time Out of Joint
-review notes-but really not on test
-us vs. them
-paranoia, conspiracy
Time out of Joint apprehends the 1950s (Dick’s present) through the past of a specific future (our present)
-consumerism-classic 1950s scene, cultural stereotypes
-realism vs. modernism
realism vs. modernism in Time Out of Joint
- there’s a lot of realism in novel until the end-very realistic, typical 1950s life
- modernism because it’s science fiction-what you see is not what you get, much more beyond surface, subjective-different experiences for different people
realism vs. modernism
- realism very interested in social world/environment-depicts day to day life, conventional environment of time trying to depict-not difficult to find meaning, painting shows exactly what life is like, not really abstract
- modernist makes an intervention in the realist aesthetic by suggesting that the way you actually live in the real world is much more complicated than the realist version of it-Freud was very influential on modernists-especially about dreams, dreams show who you are and what you feel better than your waking time-also Freud’s theories about the unconscious-the “unsaid”, things that said irrational, can’t completely be explained-talks a lot about subjective, how you personally represent material world-stream of consciousness used, syntax not conventional-the Crying of Lot 49
hip vs. square-signs
- the notion of hipness relates to race-the difference between white and black, how people use signified and signifier
- concept (signified) has a sound-image (signifier) attached to it, and vice versa
- with sound signifiers, and really all signifiers, arbitrary-if play a sound, we could have many different signified concepts that could go along with it
- sign of 1 thing can be signified for another
to signify (on someone or something)
v. AAVE (African American…). To use language (or any other sign system) in such a way as to highlight the arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified, whether unwittingly or, in special cases, deliberately and as a strategy of resistance to those of superior power. Cf. jive, (talking) shit, playing dozens, etc.
i. e. yo mama jokes
hip (to something)
adj. “in the know”, i.e., aware of the pervasive and usually unwitting signifyin(g) that pervades mainstream culture and official discourse. From AAVE jazz terms hep, hepcat. CE. hipster, with it, beat, groovy, hippie.
being “hip to something” means knowing it, but hip has a different and more commonly used signified, of being cool
square
adj. Un-hip, i.e., taking signs at face value (“on the square”) and thus easily signified on. cf. corny, drag, L7 (cuz makes a square when do with hands)
originally a good thing, meant on track, normal, not crooked-but used as the hip as a bad thing-people who were square didn’t even understand square was being used as an insult
Miller-hip or square?
square
Sinatra-hip or square?
hip
Square Music (Miller)
- warm, folksy, over reverent quality
- robust, earthy, thoroughly american voices
- a simple wide-eyed extroverted delight in the familiar
- squareness: not signifying many things, songs stripped down to simplest, most conventional form
- squareness is associated with power-much of the regional and ethnic music starts to go mainstream in 50s by going through a process of whitewashing, sterilizing, sanitizing-so you lose the hipness, fits better into mainstream
- Miller was actually very talented, and really the first A and R man (artist and repertoire man)-put artists in touch with manager, singers in touch with songs-really inventing 2 jobs (artist and repertoire, producer) in music industry-Miller put it all together, actually very creative-his music was very popular-completely dominated popular music-70 hits-made a fortune for the record company selling squareness
Hip Music/Swing (Sinatra)
- Sinatra used to be like Patti Page-worked with Miller at first, terrible record-but in 50s reinvented himself into swinging hipster-used swinging as a way to be a hipster without saying he was and alienating people
- people used swing to signify things, resist square form of performance-change things up-is a way of dramatizing the signifier-signified relationship
- tried to musically show what he was capable of
Constitution
1776-all men created equal, inalienable rights-didn’t actually start to get any until 1966
What are civil rights?
- a variety of rights and privileges that protect us from each other and from our gov
- colonial times: protection of citizens against the British king-king George III
- taxation w/o representation
- people taking advantage of each other
- we must not tyrannize each other
10th amendment
- Constitution gives broad power to states
- 10th amendment-any power not explicitly given to gov. in Constitution, is given to states
- southern states make laws to disenfranchise, enslave, segregate, part of pop. from the rest
- there is very little the federal gov can do to make states stop
Semiotics of Squareness
“A good number has to have self-identifcation. People want to think: This could be me.”
“Swing” as a semiotic concept
“You can feel it, but you just can’t explain it.”
“Swing” as a political concept
“free speech in music”-improvisation-the liberty
a soloist has to stand and play a chorus in the way he
feels it, instead of the way in which it was written, a
liberty never given any musician in classical
performances-genuinely American-expression of an individual-democratic
compromises in Congress
MO Compromise • The Compromise of 1850 • States bargain with one another to allow new states to enter as either free or slave states. • These become federal law.
Dred Scott case
- South wins
- federal gov cannot prevent slavery in the territories
- MO compromise and compromise of 1850 ruled unconstitutional-rules blacks were property-enjoyed no rights-any law that interfered of the right of someone to their property was unconstitutional
13th Amendment
emancipated slaves
14th amendment
granted citizenship and guaranteed due process and equal protection of the law to all citizens (citizens now includes former slaves-in order to be readmitted to union, southern states had to sign this amendment)
15th amendment
right to vote-but not a blanket right to vote, not all citizens-not women, or ex-Confederate soldiers
Politics vs. Rights, 1877
- reconstruction of the south doesn’t go as swiftly as would imagine
- 1876 election basically a tie
- South is solidly democratic-republicans really want white house, make deal with southern democrats-if you vote for the republican pres in House or Representatives-we will end Reconstruction in South-bargained away civil rights to get the white house
- blacks living in south suddenly living at mercy of former masses
- ”selective brutality” by KKK-prevent them from voting, segregate them, beat them
- northern democrats look the other way
- southern democratic block guarantees democratic majority in electoral college and in congress-works for them-so ignore brutality and segregation-can write laws want for gov, get them passed, states not their responsibility
Plessy v. Ferguson
- Plessy, ⅞ white, violated Louisiana’s segregation law by sitting in whites only railroad car
- ”equal protection under law” referred only to political equality, not social equality
- very narrow reading of 14th amendment
- if blacks were socially inferior to whites, then saws such as Louisiana’s could reflect that inferiority so long as political equality was not compromised
- where “Separate but equal” doctrine comes from
- like this for another 50 yrs
1948 election
- truman worries that Illinois, Ohio, and NY will all go Republican because of 2nd great migration-decides to start standing up for civil rights to gain support back
- truman civil rights Bill (dies in Senate)
- proposes integrated armed services
- laws ending racial lynching
- federal guarantees for voting rights
- prohibiting employment and housing discrimination
- Truman wins 1948 election-olive branch for Truman, but didn’t follow through-not really his fault-he gets to say he was a champion of civil rights but nothing changes for blacks in the South
Brown vs. Board of Education
- 1954-court says-“education is the foundation of citizenship”-separate but equal is unconstitutional
- but by 1963, decade later, less than one half of 1% of black students in the South were attending desegregated schools
- confederate states sign “Southern Manifesto” to fight desegregation on every frontier
- closed school instead of integrating them
- foundation for civil rights movements for blacks
Collective action in civil rights movement
- life in the south is not changing despite law-don’t need to change law, just make sure they actually get their rights
- southern blacks need to organize-have to start somewhere
- they all have something to gain if they work together-kids can go to school, then maybe good college, then get real jobs, positions in gov.
- but costs of involvement are great-jail, beating, lynching, death-very bad, serious costs
- weigh the costs vs. benefits
Free riding
- when costs of providing public goods are high, people often free ride
- since success means everyone gets to vote, you can benefit the outcome without paying any costs
- in the limit, no one participates. Why pay costs?
Did MLK have a hard time organizing this group into collective action?
No-people wanted to be involved
Collective action
any action taken together by a group of people whose goal is to enhance their status and achieve a common objective. It is enacted by a representative of the group.
transaction costs-what are the costs of making it happen?
- segregated means blacks live together, easy to communication-minimizes the transaction costs
- but mostly no free riding cuz decision to join movement emotional, not rational
supreme court ruling on transportation, 1956
- said transportation is unconstitutional
- nothing changes though, ignored by white southerners
1960 election
- presidency open, Eisenhower’s 2 terms up-lots of democrats anxious to win the democratic nomination
- Lyndon Johnson one of them-uses position in Senate to introduce civil rights bill, to win black vote-could sue in federal court if voting rights denied-passes-gives more power to gov-but nothing changes-expensive to hire and lawyer and sue in federal court
- -JFK more popular, wins nomination over Johnson, then presidency
- JFK campaigned on a fear/hope and the New Frontier (couldn’t connect him to the past failures of democrats because he was too young), while Nixon just used Eisenhower’s success
- First time debates were on Television
protests around 1960 election
- court rulings making desegregating schools, transportation, restaurants illegal
- nothing is changing
- sit-ins, freedom rides, marches get more attention (From federal gov)-want to draw attention to fact that life in the south has not changed for them despite all these rulings on their side
- 1961-blacks and whites ride together on interstate buses-protesting laws in southern states and refusal of southern states to enforce federal laws-riders met with violence in southern states
- sit ins where in north carolina, where there were segregation laws, at Woolworth-effective cuz everyone knows about Woolworth’s-so people in the north started to boycott it as a chain-can’t think “oh, it’s just that one place” or just those owners-not evidence of a pandemic problem-strategic move by civil rights supporters
JFK’s deal w/ south
-JFK is a northern democrat-needs southern democrats in office so can pass laws he wants-makes deal with southern governors, cuz has a lot on his plate w Cold War-if keep rioters of these buses safe, I won’t interfere when you do things like arrest them-cuz the riots and violence embarrassing the nation-pres is only getting involved cuz losing credibility to deal w Soviets-costing him politically
Ole Miss, 1962
- federal court ordered Ole Miss to accept James Meredith, a 28 year old Air Force veteran
- Mississippi Governor Ross Bernett said he would never allow the school to be integrated
- after days of violence and rioting on campus, he’s enrolled, escorted to class by federal officials
- rioting-national guard gets involved
Life in the South, 1960-68
- Twilight Zone, Father Knows Best, the Cold War, suburban exodus, cars, kitchens…
- but the south is highly segregated-no education or graduate programs for blacks, completely different things going on for them
- separate sections of buses, bathrooms, restaurants, etc.
- separate schools, churches, neighborhood
- no graduate or professional programs for African Americans
- KKK is very active
Birmingham, 1963
- peaceful protesters with permits to march- bitten by police dogs, doused with fire houses, arrested-police chief nicknamed Bull Connor, very brutal
- even small children made victims of brutal treatment by Birmingham’s law enforcement
- all part of plan, chose Birmingham for a reason-if could stage a scene that was so brutal, could get these images on TV, the rest of the world would see how bad it was and do something about it-work exactly as they expect-popular attention to civil rights movement in the south rises
- Kennedy’s approval rating plummets from 60 to 47%-elections coming up-so Kennedy reluctantly responds that race discrimination is a moral issue
- a few days later he submits a new and broadened civil rights program to Congress
JFK’s Civil Rights Act of 1963
- not necessary to go to court
- if laws aren’t being enforced, don’t go to court, JFK will send federal agents/troops in and force the south to give you your rights-sounds like reconstruction, but 100 years later-took that long
- southern democrats predictably filibustered this
- but republicans in congress and northern democrats joined to pass it
- southern democrats hate JFK and democrats-all become republicans (really had been acting like republicans for a while), still are today
- Alabama’s George Wallace said JFK’s ruling unconstitutional under 10th amendment (challenged ruling on grounds of federalism)-states have power to regulate voting in their borders-Alabama will not stand by and let federal gov steal its power-said if people of Alabama want segregation, they will have it
- but inalienable rights-no one can take them away, not even George Wallace
Freedom Summer-Mississippi, 1964
Mississippi is 55% black and very poor
• Black and white students travel to the South to help
collect signatures, register voters, encouraging blacks
to vote, form a new party (MS Freedom Democratic
Party)
– 1000 arrests
– 80 beatings
– 3 deaths (Goodman, Chaney, Schwerner)
• Parents wanted three young men buried side by side
but MS enforced segregation even in death. Chaney
was buried alone.
Selma, AL. 1965-Voting registration
South continued literacy tests & poll taxes
• 200 African Americans tried to register in Selma,
Alabama in 1965 but were denied
– African Americans marched in Selma to protest this
violation
– Met with extreme violence from Sheriff James Clark
and deputies
– They were beaten, whipped, and trampled by horses
after use of tear gas
• 4 KKK members killed a woman
-Referred to as “Bloody Sunday”
-Contributed to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1965
The voting rights act, 1965
- justice department suspended restrictive electoral tests in southern states with a history of low black turnout-get rid of property and literacy requiremements?
- states to obtain clearance from justice Department before changing any election laws
- lasts until 2013
- southern democrats voted against it, northern democrats decide to vote for it…pro-segregation Republican candidate, so southern democrats jumped ship to become Republican-that’s when the switch happened where now south is republican and north is democratic
Chief Justice Roberts
-challenged voting rights act
-Invoking the 10th Amendment, which
reserves powers to the states that are
not specifically granted to the federal
government, and citing doctrines
claiming that states should be treated
equally, Chief Justice Roberts argues
that the Voting Rights Act “sharply
departs” from these principles of states’
rights.
Effects of Voting Rights Act
Massively increased registration
• Minority political leaders emerge
– Enforce desegregation laws in South
• It took 100 years to end effects of slavery and
segregation
– It required coordination, collective action, and strong beliefs on the
part of Southern blacks; and vote-maximizing politicians in the
national parties
– It affected and still affects us politically and culturally
South Carolina, 2000
South Carolina flying confederate flag over
statehouse
• Raised it in 1962 as 100 year anniversary of
Civil War
• Protesters want it taken down
• Is it a ….
– Sign of oppression, segregation, hate…
– Or, sign of Southern Heritage?
-a sign-What does the confederate flag signify if
flown over a statehouse in 2000?
Civil Rights
1954-1965
Tactic: non-violence-but this was still active, not passive
Goal: integration
Organizations: NAACP, SCLC, CORE, SNCC (pre 1965)
Black Power
1966-1974
Tactic: militancy-could involve violence-”whatever it takes”-acting fast
Goal: separatism-worried may lead back to “separate but equal” but many embraced it
Organizations: NOI, BPP, US, SNCC (post 1965)
Women’s liberation
inspired by…
reaction to…
Black power
Meridian
review october 23 notes-lecture and discussion
-novel on “What good was the civil rights movement?”-race and sexual politics
THEMES
women’s rights
civil rights
independence
spirituality
inner conflict/morality-”will you kill for the cause”-the right thing is different from the correct thing
self-sacrifice
interracial relationships-romantic and platonic
power dynamics-has to do w women’s rights and civil rights
gender relations
white guilt
violence vs. nonviolence-is violence necessary
(idealized) womanhood/femininity
What is folk music?
- process, not style
- musical expression of preliterate or illiterate communities and necessarily pass directly from singer to singer
“This Land is Your Land”:
folk song- Woody Guthrie wrote words, but repurposed “My Loving Brother” religious hymn from 1920s-so folk song
-was actually a communist song, most people don’t realize this
3 things would expect from a piece of good music
Authenticity (where does it come from? comes from something true, real), sincerity (How does it feel? Does it feel like the person is honest and real? can be sincere w/o being authentic, and other way around), originality (Is it new and different?)
- very little music has all 3 of these at once
- these 3, in order, represent a spectrum of values associated w/ collective, to values associated w/ individual
- folk process has more to do with authenticity, today songs have to be original or will get sued
- sincerity goes along with both collective and individual-but the terms on the ends are more important
- in collective, don’t care if melodies stolen, not about being different or claiming music as your own, just about changing and spreading and sharing music
- for individual, care more about having something new to say, if not new it’s stealing, taking credit for another’s work-but in collective don’t care about this
folk music
- recombinations of many diff kinds of music-everything from commercial blues and jazz of early 20th century, to very old English ballads from 16th century, to union songs
- folk process runs through left wing politics-and communist sympathisers-many folks songs created/changed by them
- 1939-worker strikes-struggle to organize in Harlan County, Kentucky-create unions-lots of songs to do with this
- for most folk songs, picking up story in middle, don’t know exact origin, because recordings don’t go back far enough
Which Side Are You On?
- 1939-Florence Reece-husband was a union organizer in Harlan County-thugs came and trashed house-she wrote down the words to a song after-took tune from old baptist hymn (we don’t have this song recorded)-transformed it into a union song-very authentic when she sings it-but diff lyrics than later, changed over time
- by 1946, recorded by Almanac Singers, and some lyrics had changed, added more music, harmonized choruses, more polished-pushed song more towards side of originality and sincerity-their own artistic version of it
- by the 1950s, lead singer of that band (Pete Seeger) had created commercial folk group called The Weavers-sang it
- changed lyrics to fit movement, but same song-classic folk process-no direct connection to Florence Reece, but spread from her to them
- the protesters at the St. Louis Symphony Concert-repurposed song, nothing to do with original version, just the civil rights movement version-participating in folk process, changing the song a bit from last version, no idea of roots, what it was before that
The Weavers
- led by Pete Seeger of the Almanac Singers-made more artistic and polished versions of old folk music-and gave concerts-very popular-their version of the folk process was to take little-known music and make it more commercially successful
- The Weavers were popular until mid 1950s-refuses to testify-just says as an American has the right to free speech/not speak-doesn’t plead the 5th-just thinks un-American to force him to reveal his beliefs and how he voted, etc.-he was a communist, lots of folk music was being made by avid members of the Communist Party, like Seeger
- Seeger was convicted for contempt of Congress (was later reversed)
- so the Weavers were blacklisted for the rest of the 1950s-no one would book them, carry their records, play their songs on the radio-forced out of business
Rock Island Line
-from prison, work song-The Weavers got from folk song collector who went to the prison and recorded it-the song sounds a lot diff-so The Weavers’ version is very original, but not so authentic, wearing tuxedos, not prison jumpsuit, performing it as a commercial song and not work song-prisoners learned song through authentic folk process, The Weavers, not so much-sounds square
what happens to folk music in the 1960s
- white folk music mostly enters 1960s having skipped the authentic and political phase (this kind of music blacklisted often if it sounded communist, so only the nonpolitical stuff survived)-square music-false pedigree where folk music is just a kind of pop music
- so actually a boom of white folk music in second half of 50s-60s, but clean cut, has been completely cleaned of any political content
- by 1960s, have 2 choices: square pop folk music of clean cut white boys, or the place where the political charge of folk music stayed-freedom songs
- black folk music survived as political into the 1960s-used in civil rights protests
- not all music made by white people was square-another way to do this-became aware of the fact that it’s hard to tell diff between commercial jazz and blues and conventional folk music-sound similar-so connection straight from white folk music to either pop, or to these commercial blues and jazz-both bypass the political, but some preferred the more hip blues/jazz route
“See That My Grave is Kept Clean”
-instead of learning song from musician or friend of musician-learned from old record-anthology of folk music-Dave van Ronk’s version is very similar to Blind Lemon Jefferson’s original version-a bit more polished, a few words changed-not hokey or square, but pretty similar to older version, authentic and sincere box-Bob Dylan’s version was radically changed, more focuses on the originality and sincerity box
