The dissertation is the first comprehensive study of the manifestation of blues in non-academic music of the twentieth century. The study highlights the state of scientific development of the problem, analyzes the source base of the research and presents the conceptual and categorical apparatus of solving the formulated issues. In the dissertation the preconditions of blues origin are investigated. It is stated that the list of these preconditions includes phenomena in the field of sociology, ethnography, psychology and culture studies. It is noted that the culture of African Americans should be classified as a subcultural phenomenon in the context of the American culture.
In the course of the research, it was proved that the blues is a carrier of features of the musical genre, the musical style and musical form. It was found out that the basic feature of blues as a genre is improvisational performance. It is noted that the tradition of solo performance in the blues is a reflection of the process of personal identity of the African-American individual. The analysis of the musical form “12-bar blues” is done and the results are presented. It is established the musical form “12-bar blues” is a manifestation of the factor, when the traditions of African-American culture are opposed to the leading principles of Western European culture. The analysis of a complex of stylistic features of blues music, its performing traditions, special text themes is carried out. It was found that the characteristic genre feature of blues is the use of guitar. It is noted that the concept of “frustration” and “catharsis” should be added to the list of characteristics of blues as a genre.
The concept of marginality in the context of art history is clarified. It is noted that in the art aspect the blues is a carrier of signs of marginality due to the peculiarities of its stylistic features in the context of American music culture. It was found out that this feature of the blues, namely marginality, comes from the characteristics of African American culture, which allows us to indicate the African component as dominant in the discussed phenomenon of musical culture.
It is noted that the degree of influence of blues in the context of non-academic music of the twentieth century is different. It was found out that the greatest influence of blues in jazz music is mostly traced in the context of the bebop music style. It is stated that in the process of jazz music formation the influence of blues as a style gradually decreased, while the level of manifestation of genre and form-forming features of blues, on the contrary, increased. Most of the leading characteristics of the blues were reproduced in rock music and music styles such rhythm&blues and rock’n’roll. It is noted that the musical style of rhythm&blues is a neo-tradition of blues performance. Within the music styles such as funk, soul, rap and such as direction of pop music, the degree of manifestation of the main characteristics of blues is set as average. The least signs of blues were reproduced in the musical direction of pop, due to the dominant position of the entertainment component and the lack of signs of marginality.
It is stated that the characteristic genre, stylistic and formative features of the blues, which found expression in the musical trends and styles of non-academic music of the twentieth century, are closely related to the socio-cultural conditions of its origin and, accordingly, socio-cultural characteristics of the African American community. In this regard, the important position of African American culture in the formation of non-academic music of the twentieth century is pointed out. Its characteristic features, namely: socio-cultural marginal position, high level of ethnic self-identification, features of the psychological state of the migrant, features of acculturation of Africans in the USA cultural space, the factor of constant resistance and struggle of African Americans for their rights, close connection of musical creativity played a leading role in shaping the system of main characteristics of the blues, which formed a separate layer of non-academic music of the twentieth century and, at the same time, greatly influenced the process of its formation.
Key words: blues, African American culture, marginality, non-academic music of the XX century.
