| African
American and Belorussian are two different cultures with their historical
background. What we would like to stress upon here is they both proved
to be unique and deserve existence in future.
According to Forcucci (1984), "folk music has been with us since the dawn of history" (p. 16). However, it was not until the early 1900s that scholars began to consider folk music as a legitimate facet to be studied as a part of a culture. The definition of folk music has undergone debate for many years. Seeger mentioned music that arises out of older traditions but that means something today. What people want to hear today is different from what they wanted to hear 10, 20, and 50 years ago. Styles change, artists evolve. Some can point to folk influences, and some cannot. A broad general definition of "folk" music is that it is music of the people. These folk are sometimes identified as the rural or peasant people of a country , although Rhodes believed that folk music exists in all classes of society. Sometimes the folk are considered a particular ethnic group or nationality. If people were to be introduced to the "folk music" of today by having played for them the music of a number of different artists, they would be confused. Some sound pop, others country, rock, blues, or other varied musical styles. How could they all possibly be identified as folk? |