Lafcadio Hearn and Jazz?--Walter Kingsley started it

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

        The source of this story is the  1917 article cited and quoted by HDAS. With
        a bit more detail it's Walter Kingsley, "Whence comes jass?" (subtitle:
        "Facts from the great authority on the subject." in: _New York Sun_, August
        5, 1917, section 3, p. 3, col. 6.

           This is the first article to ascribe an African origin to the term "jazz" and
        was much quoted uncritically. Criticism eventually did come, first in the
        excellent 1968 article by Alan P. Merriam and Fradley H. Garner "Jazz--the
        word," in _Ethnomusicology_, vol. 12, pp. 373-396 (see p. 381) and then full
        force in Dick Holbrook's equally excellent article: "Our word jazz."
        _Storyville_ (Dec. 1973-Jan. 1974), pp. 46-58 (see pp. 55, 58).

          Holbrook's comments include: "The plain fact is that the word Jazz was not
        researched up to (and including!) August of 1917. That's when the great
        literary hoax was perpetrated by the plausible liar and gifted press agent
        Walter Kingsley.  since this little story was quoted as 'fact' by experts,
        critics, scholars, historians, lexicographers, etymologists and discographers
        (which is just about everybody!)--from 1917 to July 1965...it's worth reading
        again."

        Gerald Cohen

> ----------
> From:         American Dialect Society on behalf of Sam Clements
> Sent:         Sunday, October 17, 2004 7:48 P.M.
> Subject:           Re: Lafcadio Hearn and Jazz?
>
> Can you offer an explanation as to how a newspaper editor in 1917 merely
> "pulled" Lafcadio's name out of a hat and attributed this to him?
>
> She obviously(now that I go back and read Jonathan's HDAS"jazz" cite from
> August, 1917 in the NY Sun) stole verbatim the "Jas it up" thing.
>
> So, did she steal the Hearn attibution?  If so, from whom?
>
> SC
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 8:27 PM
> Subject: Re: Lafcadio Hearn and Jazz?
>
>
> > I tried to trace this reference many years ago and found nothing. I
> believethat Gerald Cohen gave it a try too.  It's almost certainly
> imaginary.
> >
> >  JL
>
>
>