The book is the fruit of Douglas Mark Ponton's and co-editor Uwe
Zagratzki's enduring interest in the Blues as a musical and cultural
phenomenon and source of personal inspiration. Continuing in the
tradition of Blues studies established by the likes of Samuel Charters
and Paul Oliver, the authors hope to contribute to the revitalisation of
the field through a multi-disciplinary approach designed to explore this
constantly evolving social phenomenon in all its heterogeneity.
Focusing either on particular artists (Lightnin' Hopkins, Robert
Johnson), or specific texts (Langston Hughes' Weary Blues and Backlash
Blues, Jimi Hendrix's Machine Gun), the book tackles issues ranging from
authenticity and musicology in Blues performance to the Blues in
diaspora, while also applying techniques of linguistic analysis to the
corpora of Blues texts. While some chapters focus on the Blues as a
quintessentially American phenomenon, linked to a specific social
context, others see it in its current evolutions, as the bearer of vital
cultural attitudes into the digital age.
This multidisciplinary volume will appeal to a broad range of scholars
operating in a number of different academic disciplines, including
Musicology, Linguistics, Sociology, History, Ethnomusicology,
Literature, Economics and Cultural Studies. It will also interest
educators across the Humanities, and could be used to exemplify the
application to data of specific analytical methodologies, and as a
general introduction to the field of Blues studies.
