ABSTRACT
The "soul" vocabulary has thus emerged from the social basis of a number of individuals, in effective interaction with one another, with similar problems of adjustment to a new situation. The use of "soul" rhetoric is a way of meeting their needs as long as it occurs in situations where they can mutually support each other. Summing up what has been said, "Soul" is a relatively recent concept used in the urban Negro ghetto, in particular by young men, to express what “essential Negroness” is and to convey appreciation for it. The "Down Country" connotations are particularly attached to "soul food"; however, although Negro music has changed more and the contemporary commercial rock-and-roll is an urban phenomenon, it is certainly seen as the latest stage of an unfolding musical heritage. The view of "soul" taken here is one of a piecemeal rhetoric attempt to establish a satisfactory self-conception.
