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How the yodel became a joke: the vicissitudes of a musical sign

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2012

Tim Wise
Tim Wise*
Affiliation:
School of Media, Music and Performance, The University of Salford, Adelphi Building, Peru Street, Salford M3 6EQ, UK E-mail: t.e.wise@salford.ac.uk
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Abstract

Although yodelling has been a part of English-language popular music since the early decades of the 19th century, it lacks prestige in contemporary popular music. This essay charts the change in the yodel's fortunes from its use in the early 19th century as a signifier for ideas relating to a pastoral Golden Age to its present-day association with hillbillies and comic stereotypes. It examines the contexts in which yodelling was most frequently heard in order to elucidate its primary associations and connotations. By examining the changing attitudes towards the ideas associated with yodelling, the essay analyses the gradual decline in the prestige of the yodelled voice.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , October 2012 , pp. 461 - 479
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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