Fathers and Sons

Molecular Identities

“…Grotowski and Thomas Richards (Spatz 2008), which inspired me to search for the intersections of personal and cultural meaning through song. 8 Inventing non-lexical songs seemed to allow me to sidestep the issue of cultural appropriation and to avoid what Harry J. Elam, Jr. identifies as the 'ethical problematics of cultural engagement' in some post-Grotowskian songwork (Elam, Jr. 2008; see also Campbell, this volume). I discovered that, by changing the words and melody of a song, I could retain other features -such as rhythms, harmonic modes and vocal textures -without foregrounding the cultural sources of the songs.…”