Reviews for The arts, community and cultural democracy

The average rating for The arts, community and cultural democracy based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-03-27 00:00:00 Brandi Stephens A fascinating book for anyone interested in the history of American music; it's about much more than the banjo -- race, authenticity, nostalgia, exoticism, etc. The banjo was viewed as the quintessential African-American plantation instrument in the 19th Century but by the end of 20th survived, in bluegrass and Old Time music, primarily as an object of European-Americans' nostalgia for rural life.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-08-21 00:00:00 Jeramie Childress This was a really fascinating book. Instead of just a chronological history of the banjo, the author presents the banjo always in the context of whatever era she was current discussing. It did tend to be pretty academic in places, which always seems to lead to reductive or overly simplistic conclusions when talking about something like folk music, but overall I enjoyed how well researched the book was