Song Transmission Research Articles

Shake, Slow, and Selection: An Aspect of the Tradition Process Reflected by Discotheque Dances in Bergen, Norway

Tn the fall of 1975 I asked myself whether discotheque dancing in my ome-Bergen, Norway--could be considered folk dance. I based my study on Cecil Sharp's theory of folk song transmission, and collected information on learning to dance, as well as on the three major factors identified by Sharp. My conclusion was that discotheque dancing was indeed a result of the same processes that have been reported by a number of students of traditional cultures. Here I will treat only one of Sharp's factors-that of selection-and present only the more important of my findings. Traditional culture elements such as a song, a dance, or the way of making a household utensil or a costume are often said to be handed down by word of mouth, from generation to generation. This process is riot only responsible for the transmission alone, but also for the shaping and alteration of traditional culture elements. Cecil Sharp has examined this process, which I call the tradition process, in English folk song. Sharp's theory is closely modeled on Darwin's theory of evolution. Accordingly the transmission of traditional culture elements involves three major factors: variation, continuity, and selection. Two people may sing the same song, each in his own way. The differences between these two performances are ascribed to variation. The fact that the two performances, although differing slightly, are recognizably of the same song is ascribed to continuity. The song is called a type, and the differing peformances, variants. Sharp's third factor is selection. By means of this process, those individual variations that are acceptable to the taste and evaluation of the community will probably be used again, whereas those rejected by the community will probably not be used again. In this way variation and continuity are controlled by selection. There are relatively few studies of recent mass culture social dances such as jitterbug, twist, or shake. I am not aware of other workers who have specifically studied the tradition process--the process for the trans-