Music and cultural identity among adolescents in rural Appalachia : a participatory research project

This ethnomusicological study focuses on a single case study of the music culture of eighth graders at a rural school in East Tennessee. The research took place in the context of a ten-day, curriculum-based residency done by the principal investigator with all three eighth grade U. S. history classes. The research was participatory in nature in that the students were asked to collect data about the music history and culture of their community by interviewing family members and friends. The end result is an ethnography within an ethnography. The inner ethnography was written by the students and is made up of the songs and stories that the students collected from members of their community. This ethnography shows the history of popular music during the 20th century in the students' community. The "outer ethnography" was written by the principal investigator and is based on his interactions with and observations of the students. This ethnography uses music as a window through which to view the attitudes of the students about their own history, popular culture, regional stereotypes and adolescence. The primary conclusion of the study is that the majority of the students have internalized popular negative images of Appalachia and have, in turn, rejected their own culture and the music that they associate with it. The degree to which this is true seems due in large part to the interplay of modeling from older generations and input from popular culture.