Tie AppalacMaii ..musical heritage
Anthropologist finds culture
in Southern mountain music
The Daily Tar HeelFriday, October 30, 19879
By KIM DONEHOWER
StaKWHtBr
"People have stereotyped images of
the Appalachian mountains," says.
Jack Bernhardt. "They tend to think
of people (there) as barefoot, chewing
on a corncob pipe on the porch and
whittling all day long, but it's just not
true." There is a well-developed
artistic culture in these mountains, a
culture whose vitality parallels Bern
hardt enthusiasm for it.
Jack Bernhardt is an anthropolo
gist who has chosen as bis area of
focus the musical heritage of the
mountains of southwest Virginia and
northwest North Carolina. "There's
a center of musical tradition that
focuses around Galax, Va., and Mt.
Airy, N.C.," he says. "(The region
has) traditionally, since the 19th
century, been a very central area for
traditional music which originated in
the British Isles, then transformed
into old-timey music, bluegrass and
country."
Although quite an enthusiast of the
music itself, Bernhardt's interest is
based on his anthropological perspec
tive. "I'm interested in the music, but
as a cultural phenomenon and not
just music," he says. "One of my main
interests is how and why the music
has remained so strong in that
particular region of the country. In
other parts of the United States and
in the Southeast, where that music
once reigned supreme, it's no longer
practiced."
Bernhardt attributes this regional
longevity to an intense sense of pride
among the people in their culture and
heritage, which manifests itself in
such institutions as the Galax
Fiddler's Convention. Local radio
stations and record labels in the area
also promote continuing visibility of
the music. "There's a long tradition
of interest," he says. "People have
been on the cutting edge of the
recording of this music, of promoting
it, of preserving it, throughout this
century."
Bernhardt, who currently resides in
Durham, researches this tradition by
frequent trips to the Galax Mt. Airy
region to "spend time around the
music," to learn and listen to the
music itself and to collect oral
histories from key musicians
involved. "I try to get an idea through
their experiences of what the culture
was like back at that time, and how
they fit into it," he says. . '
Luckily, there are still musicians
living in the Galax area who partic
ipated in the original country record
ing boom of the 1920s. Oral histories
also prove valuable because of a
tradition of handing down songs and
playing styles through local families
and their acquaintances.
Originally from Canton, Ohio,
Bernhardt arrived in this area by way
of New York City, where he taught
anthropology and worked towards
his doctorate at Columbia University.
While he was working on his disser
tation, he left for a self-determined
tour of the Virginia mountains, and
eventually came to Galax, whose
people, culture and musical heritage
were soon to prove as the focus of
his anthropological and artistic
interest. Bernhardt remains actively
involved in the region, where he
recently emceed a county fair and
helped videotape a music festival.
Such involvement allows him close,
relaxed contact with the people and
their culture, and provides a lot of
entertainment as well.
In addition to being involved in the
continuing education program at
Duke University, Bernhardt is cur
rently teaching a course at the
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DTH Charlotte Cannon
Jack Bernhardt lectures to his Southern music class at the ArtsCenter
ArtsCenter in Carrboro, entitled
"Southern Music and Its Heritage."
Bernhardt describes the class as a
study of the "chronological develop
ment of the culture and the history
of the music," from its origin in the
British Isles through its development
among Appalachian settlers, under
the varying influences of time, such
as the recording industry of the 1920s
and the tide of post-World War II
optimism that sparked the develop
ment of bluegrass. For Bernhardt,
Speech
music becomes a cultural, historical
teaching tool that provides both
questions and answers to the heritage
of the Southern mountains.
The use of music in an anthropo
logical context gives vitality to
cultural study, mirrored by Bern
hardt's obvious enthusiasm for every
aspect of mountain heritage. Contact
with Bernhardt and his work effec
tively dispels any images of the
Appalachian mountains as a culture
less, backward society.
from page 1
Parrot related the non-sexual
situation to a sexual situation. It is
easier to be more assertive in a non
sexual situation than in a sexual one,
she said.
For instance, smoking is a subject
that can be freely discussed at
Thanksgiving dinner with Grand
mom, Parrot said, but masturbation
is not.
Also the language used to discuss
sex is vague. There are 3,000 terms
to describe the vulva and 2,000 to
describe the penis, Parrot said.
"If a person uses one of the .2,000.
terms that I don't know, we can't have
conversation and know what each
other is saying," she said.
Kissing or "grubbing" are not
hazardous to a person's health, she
said. But people know that inhaling
smoke is a health hazard.
"We don't wear signs around our
necks saying, 'Only kissing on first
date, grubbing not until the second
date and intercourse not until the
tenth date,' " Parrot said. But "No
Smoking" signs are posted on many
walls, she said.
Parrot asked the audience
members what messages they received
from their parents, their male and
female acquaintances, religion and
the media.
In the episode of "Moonlighting"
when David and Maddie finally got
together, Maddie yelled and
screamed and asked David to leave
. her house. He grabbed her, kissed her.
and she melted. The episode, viewed
by 40 percent of the national viewing
public, gave a clear message that men
don't listen to women, Parrot said.
"Going to a room with a drunk
guy is poor judgment and increases
vulnerability," Parrot said. But poor
judgment does not shift the blame of
the crime.
When a person leaves his car door
unlocked, he is leaving his car
vulnerable to a crime. But if the car
is stolen, she said, the owner of the
car is not charged with a crime.
A person may let someone drive
her car and have nothing happen to
it. If the same person borrows the
car a second time and it is stolen,
the car's owner is not charged with
the crime, Parrot said.
1987 MARTIN LUTHER KING,
JR. SCHOLARSHIP
NOMINATIONS for the Martin Luther
King, Jr. Scholarships are now being
accepted through November 1 1 , 1987 at
5:00 PM
Nominees for the Martin Luther King. Jr.
Scholarship must be a junior who has
demonstrated the ability to achieve and
excel academically. The nominees activities
must demonstrate a commitment to Civil
Rights and the desire to improve the
quality of life in the university community.
Nomination forms may be obtained
from Mrs. Mary 0. Fuller at the Office
of University Affairs, 1 03 South Bldg.
OOSA, (962-6992).
FRANCES
SHETLEY
for
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THE
SEN
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Art department
celebrates 50 years
of quality education
By SCOTT COWEN
Staff WritBf
Last weekend, the art depart
ment celebrated its 50th birthday
with two days of dancing, dining
and reflecting.
Over the past half century the
department, which was founded
by then-UNC president Frank
Porter Graham in 1937, has grown
tremendously since the days when
only two classes were taught.
Today the department, which is
often called one of the best in the
Southeast, has 18 faculty members
teaching about 75 art history
classes and more than 30 courses
in studio art. Enrollment has
climbed to about 12,000 a year and
according to administrative man
ager Catherine Stibling, the pro
gram has more students than it can
handle.
Professor Robert Barnard, who
has been with the department since
1961, said that the facilities have
changed greatly but the basic idea
of maintaining quality education
has remained. He said that when
the department was in the muse
um's present location, some stu
dents would be in the basement
doing chainsaw sculpture and
others in the library next door
could not hear themselves think.
In studio art, only courses such
as sculpture, painting, drawing
and ceramics existed. Printmaking
and crafts were added later. "The
philosophy was towards excel
lence in what we could do,"
Barnard said.
Today the studio art program
continues the ideal of high quality.
Barnard said that UNC is not an
art school and therefore limits the
classes the department offers.
"(We're) more concerned with our
part in the general humanities
program," he said. "Both
advanced graduates and novice
undergraduates can get a very
deep and meaningful experience in
art after touching on a lot of
different things.''
In the early years the art history
curriculum was restricted because
of its limited resources. "We had
to concentrate on what we had,"
said Barnard. Since then, with an
expanded library and an increased
slide collection, topics covered by
the curriculum have broadened.
The department started a docto
rate program in art history with
the idea that it would be one of
the nation's finest. The first degree
was awarded in 1968.
Arthur Marks, art department
chairman, said that the depart
ment's main strength is its faculty,
which includes established senior
members as well as dynamic junior
members. He added that because
UNC is a research university, the
faculty is alive and thinking, which
encourages positive interaction
among the faculty. According to
Marks, the department is one of
few in the country that offers
graduate degrees in both fine arts
(studio) and art history.
Marks said that the department
was ranked 14th overall and
second in improvement in a
national poll of art departments
conducted about seven or eight
years ago. "We have the number
one art department in the sou
theast," he said. However, he
added, "We will never be able to
match the institutes in major cities,
especially in the northeast, because
of location."
As for the future, the depart
ment wants to add photography
to its studio curriculum but lacks
the needed funds. The art history
department hopes to add architec
tural history and a non-Western
class such as African or Islamic
art.
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