Karen Linn
Karen Linn (1957—) is an author, ethnomusicologist, and archivist who served in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. Her academic research focuses on the intersection of musical instruments, race, and industrialization in American society. She authored That Half-Barbaric Twang: The Banjo in American Popular Culture, published by the University of Illinois Press in 1991. The text provides a historical and sociological analysis tracing the banjo from its African origins through its 1980s adaptations. Her other published writings include musicological studies in the North Carolina Folklore Journal and American Music.
In the newsletter
- No. 31 December 2002