| GRANT PROPOSAL THE RHYTHM OF CULTURE MUSIC’S REFLECTION OF CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE |
| SUBMITTED BY: RYAN MORGAN NOVEMBER 30, 2011 Key Terms: Cajun, Acadian, Culture, Music, Exile, French-Canadian, Pop- Culture, Influences, American, Study |
OUTLINE
I. Question
A. Identify, Explain and Predict Culture
B. Focus of Study
II. Significance
A. Effect of Music on Culture
B. Importance of Music in Everyday Life
III. Background
A. Cajun Music History
B. Prejudice Toward Acadian and Cajun Culture
C. Predictability of Music on Culture
IV. Specific Aims
A. Additional Questions
B. Specific Tasks
V. Research Design
A. Hypothesis
B. Information Gathering
C. Expected Outcome
VI. Summary
VII. References
VIII. Appendix
GRANT PROPOSAL
I. Question
“Through the study of two cultures, the United States Cajuns and the Canadian Acadians, can musical development be used to identify, explain and potentially predict divergent cultural development?”
The central focus of this study will be the Acadians from Canada, and the Cajuns from the southern United States. They were once the same people who developed in different parts of the world. Most interesting about these two groups is the music they have produced over time. Music can tell us so much about someone’s culture, and every culture has a distinct sound recognizable around the world.
Lyrics also convey a strong message about the artist’s values as well as serve as a yardstick to measure societies tolerance of language and ideas. By studying both sounds these cultures have developed and the lyrical message, we can then answer both questions of how we have developed differently, and how both of these groups have influenced the surrounding culture of their separate nations and potentially, how the pattern of development may predict how these two cultures, or other cultures, will evolve in the future.
II. Significance
This study is important as it may help to reveal how we act and function in society. Both Americans and Canadians have been affected by the music that the Acadians and Cajuns have made over time whether they know it or not, and a research study like this could help educate each culture to better understand the path it has traveled and predict the road of the future. In addition, music is a defining characteristic in society itself. The types of music we listen to helps make us who we are and can also direct our values and the choices we make in our lives. Music is something we commonly share, and we regularly surround ourselves with others who have similar taste in the things we do. Music is something that could possibly change our entire life path by how it affects us emotionally and by the message that resonates through out thought processes each time we listen to our favorite songs or artists. So, knowing music’s origin and influences are important in truly knowing ourselves. Can we use music to predict our activities and cultural development in the future? It is an interesting concept to explore.
III. Background
Although there have been various books and articles on the history of Cajun and Acadian music, this is the first proposed direct comparison between the two. Cajun music has been a very popular subject for discussion throughout time, especially among those with direct Acadian decent. Why shouldn’t it be? It is a subject that has been around longer than the United States itself, and there is no doubt that this music has sparked pride among Cajuns everywhere.
Similar works to this have been done before, for example the writing of Charles J. Stivale. Stivale’s book Disenchanting les bons temps: identity and authenticity in Cajun music and dance. This novel involves much discussion regarding Cajun music over time. Although the book’s main focus is just on the history and deeper meaning of joy and pain that Cajun music conveys, my study will have a much broader focus. I intended to look much deeper than just this music in Cajun culture to explore how this sound has in the past, and will in the future, influence everyone wrapped in the blanket of Cajun music - Cajuns, Acadians, Canadians, and Americans alike.
It has been established in many writings that the Cajun/Acadian people have not been thought of very highly in the southern United States and parts of Canada (Ray, R, Lassiter, L, 2003). There has been much prejudice against the Cajun and Acadian culture including the music they have produced in the past 200 years. My hope is to make this study as eye opening and educational as possible, and hopefully to encourage people to see the influence that these two cultures have had on modern pop culture (Carney, G. 1980), and each of us as individuals. Although it may not seem like significant influence to the average American or Canadian, the Cajuns and Acadians have influenced the various foods we eat and the music we listen to which, in the end, are sizeable influences in molding who we are as individuals and as a modern culture.
Many authors have opined as to the relevance of music as an expression of cultural values, but not the relevance of music as a developing force in forming those values. For example, Tricia Rose, the author of “Black noise: Rap Music and Black culture in contemporary America” cites examples of music genres that arise as a condition of historical conditions, not necessarily as a result of the music. While initially, music may arise as a product environment, how it extends and molds the culture is a question that could explore the “chicken or the egg” concept with this grant.
This study is distinctive because of its unusual focus. Others have done research studies on these cultures (MacDonald, R. Jolliffe, L. 2003), but none have focused on such a particular cultural influence such as music. We know where the Acadians and Cajuns came from and some probably even know about their music, but has anyone taken a look into their true development? These are cultures that, whether we like it or not, are influential to Canadian and American society because, after all, one is always the backyard to the other. So, this study is unusual because it takes a specific influence that has a huge focus on the big picture. This is a study that doesn’t take much more than just listening. Listening to the music that has been created over the years, analyzing the trends and changes and then carefully applying it to the timeline of other forms of music and social trends that we see in our everyday lives and that are now well documented on the World Wide Web. This study can provide substantial information for the costs involved because the ability to research most necessary information on the internet eliminates the need to travel or conduct in-person interviews. Simply stated, the answer I am looking for can be found in the resources that are in front of everyone’s eyes and ears.
IV. Specific Aims
Does the exposure of music as a cultural development driver create problems? Does music define us as people? We all know who we are today but few of us can really say that we are 100% confident that we know exactly where we came from. A study like this one will help us in not only seeing where we have come from as people, but how we have transformed into the people that we are today based on historical influences. Beyond that, this study also shows how two of the exact same cultures can be the same and yet develop differently simply because of their experiences. It is a phenomenon that has been taken for granted over the years in everything that we do, so one goal is to show a lasting appreciation for one another built on the foundation that we are all the same in some way.
The more interesting and potentially troubling goal is whether our findings about the past will create learning for the future. If so, will society use its “learning” to create a culture filled with censorship in order to guide cultural development? Should this philosophy be pursued or avoided?
Specific Tasks to be completed:
1. Cultural background of the Cajun and Acadian cultures.
2. Gathering music videos or wave files to provide specific examples
3. Analyzing sociological trends of societies in general and the Cajun and Acadian cultures in particular.
4. Comparing and contrasting differences in the lyrics, style and instruments of music with cultural trends and changes.
V. Research Design
Hypothesis: Music provides a cultural marker, which can show and predict past, current and future cultural development.
Research will consist of information gathering using the vast resources of the Internet and the available media, such as youtube.com and other free media sources to keep costs at a minimum.
The focus will be on the United States Cajun culture and the Canadian Acadian culture. Experts in music and sociology for both cultures will be employed to conduct the research necessary to address subject areas listed above in the “Specific Aims” section.
The research, by design, will be very broad and open ended to allow for our experts to use vast resources and creativity in order to draw inferences on the difference and predictability of cultural development.
The expectation is to find that there is a definable pattern of cultural development tied to music, music theory and instrumental use. Potential problems that may arise are that findings from the research could have long lasting effects on censorship in the future. What if this study is expanded and determined that certain types of music could create or predict a culture similar to Hitler’s Nazi Germany? Would this be a good outcome or a bad outcome? What are the far-reaching effects of the future concerning cultural development and on individual liberties?
VI. Summary
What truly makes us an American, an Acadian, a Canadian or a Cajun? This is one question that has been asked and answered so many different times and in so many different ways. Why is there not just one definitive answer? Because, we are all so different in so many distinct ways, we live in such an amazing melting pot of people that we can’t truly say what makes us who we are as individual or as a society. It could be any number of things that has helped develop us as a culture from the clothes we wear to the shows we watch on television. Music, which predates television and, in several cultures the wearing of clothes, has an indisputable impact on social structure and values. Because music is a significant part of our culture, it can be correlated to social changes and used as a barometer to measure changes in social pressure and predict trends in the community. Thus, this grant, if awarded, will result in developing valuable information and insight into analyzing and predicting cultural developments in the future.
REFERENCES
Grant Writing 101: ocga.ucsd.edu/eLearning/GW101_Quick_Reference.pdf
Stivale, C. (2003), Disenchanting les bons temps: identity and authenticity in Cajun music and dance, Duke University Press
Broven, J. (1983), South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous, Pelican Publishing
Ray, R, Lassiter, L (2003), Signifying serpents and Mardi Gras runners: representing identity in selected Souths, University of Georgia Press
Carney, G. (1980), Country Music and the South: A Cultural Geography Perspective, Journal of Cultural Geography, 1, 16-33
Rose, T. (1994) Black noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT.
MacDonald, R. Jolliffe, L. (2003), Cultural rural tourism: Evidence from Canada, Annals of Tourism Research, 30, 307-322
Brasseaux, C. (1992), Acadian to Cajun: transformation of a people, 1803-1877, Univ. Press of Mississippi
Henry, J. (1998), From "Acadien" to "Cajun" to "Cadien": Ethnic Labelization and Construction of Identity, Journal of American Ethnic History, 17, 29-62
Miranda, D. Claes, M. (2004), Rap Music Genres and Deviant Behaviors in French-Canadian Adolescents, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 33, 113-122
Gritzner, C. (1978), Country Music: A Reflection of Popular Culture, The Journal of Popular Culture, XI, 857-864
Gaudet, M. (1989), The Image of the Cajun in Literature, The Journal of Popular Culture, 23, 77-88
Merriam, A. (1955), Music in American Culture, American Anthropologist, 57, 1173-1181
Mattern, M. (1998), Cajun music, cultural revival: Theorizing political action in popular music, Popular Music and Society, 22, 31-48
Kuhlken, R., Sexton, R. (1991), The Geography of Zydeco Music, Journal of Cultural Geography, 12, 27-38
APPENDIX
Timeline:
Activity | Timeline | Person Responsible |
| Recruit, hire and train project participants | 1/1/2012 - 1/31/2012 Formal Kickoff- 2/1/2012 | Ryan Morgan |
| Information Gathering | 2/1/2012 - 3/31/2012 | Research experts with musical/sociology background |
| Information Analysis | 3/31/2012 - 4/30/2012 | All study participants |
| Researcher meetings to write notes and determine final sources | 5/1/2012- 5/8/2012 | All study participants |
| Draft study findings | 5/9/2012- 6/30/2012 | Ryan Morgan |
| Final Presentation of Findings | 7/6/2012 | All study participants- led by Ryan Morgan |
Budget:
Item | Cost |
| Music Expert/Cultural Anthropology Expert | $2800 ($28 per hour x 100 hours) |
| Research Assistant | $400 ($10 per hour x 40 hours) |
| Supplies/Production | $300 |
| TOTAL | $3,500 |
