The Afro-American Slave Music Project: Building a Case for Digital History
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University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2013 The Afro-american Slave Music Project: Building A Case For Digital History Laura Cepero University of Central Florida Part of the Public History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Cepero, Laura, "The Afro-american Slave Music Project: Building A Case For Digital History" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2899. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2899 THE AFRO-AMERICAN SLAVE MUSIC PROJECT: BUILDING A CASE FOR DIGITAL HISTORY by LAURA L. CEPERO B.A. University of Central Florida, 2010 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of History in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2013 Major Professor: Scot French © 2013 Laura L. Cepero ii ABSTRACT This public history thesis project experimented with the application of new technology in creating an educational resource aimed at twenty-first century public audiences. The project presents the history, musicology, and historiography of Afro-American slave music in the United States. In doing so, the project utilizes two digital media tools: VuVox, to create interactive collages; and VisualEyes, to create digital visualizations. The purpose of this thesis is to assess how the project balances the goals of digital history, public history, and academic history. During the production of the Afro-American Slave Music Project, a number of the promises of digital history were highlighted, along with several of the potential challenges of digital history. In designing the project, compensations had to be made in order to minimize the challenges while maximizing the benefits. In effect, this thesis argues for the utility of digital history in a public setting as an alternative to traditional, prose-based academic history. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER ONE: PROMISE AND PERIL .................................................................................... 1 An Introduction to Digital History .............................................................................................. 2 Research Agenda ........................................................................................................................ 4 Historiography ............................................................................................................................ 6 The Afro-American Slave Music Project ................................................................................... 9 Content .................................................................................................................................. 12 Organization .......................................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER TWO: DIGITAL HISTORY AND THE AFRO-AMERICAN SLAVE MUSIC PROJECT ...................................................................................................................................... 20 Overview of Digital History ..................................................................................................... 20 Visualizing History ................................................................................................................... 20 The Promises and Challenges of Digital History ...................................................................... 25 Technology and Social Science Education ............................................................................... 32 How the Afro-American Slave Music Project Utilizes Digital History ................................... 36 iv CHAPTER THREE: PUBLIC HISTORY AND THE AFRO-AMERICAN SLAVE MUSIC PROJECT ...................................................................................................................................... 39 Making History Public .............................................................................................................. 39 African-American Public History ............................................................................................. 42 Social Science Education .......................................................................................................... 45 Presenting a Difficult Past ........................................................................................................ 48 CHAPTER FOUR: THE AFRO-AMERICAN SLAVE MUSIC PROJECT .............................. 51 Overview ................................................................................................................................... 51 Website ..................................................................................................................................... 52 VuVox ....................................................................................................................................... 54 Navigating the Collages ........................................................................................................ 55 VisualEyes ................................................................................................................................ 60 Navigating the Visualizations ............................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION.............................................................................................. 70 Future Expansion of the Afro-American Slave Music Project ................................................. 71 v APPENDIX A: INTRODUCTION TRANSCRIPT .................................................................... 73 What is Afro-American Music? ................................................................................................ 74 Music in Africa ......................................................................................................................... 74 Rhythm .................................................................................................................................. 74 Vocality ................................................................................................................................. 75 Function ................................................................................................................................ 75 Music in Europe ........................................................................................................................ 76 Distinction with Traditional European Music ....................................................................... 76 The Music ................................................................................................................................. 77 Characteristics ....................................................................................................................... 77 Historiography: The Scholars’ Debate...................................................................................... 79 The Frazier-Herskovits Debate: Did Slaves Maintain Their African Heritage? ................... 79 Recent Historians .................................................................................................................. 80 Videos ....................................................................................................................................... 82 Singing Fishermen of Ghana ................................................................................................ 82 vi APPENDIX B: FOLK TRANSCRIPT ......................................................................................... 83 The History ............................................................................................................................... 84 Context .................................................................................................................................. 84 Limitations to the Continuation of African Culture .............................................................. 84 Creolization ........................................................................................................................... 86 The Music ................................................................................................................................. 86 Rhythm .................................................................................................................................. 86 Vocality ................................................................................................................................. 87 Improvisation ........................................................................................................................ 88 Call and Response ................................................................................................................. 88 Work Songs ..........................................................................................................................