ABSTRACT In 2009, television networks worldwide broadcast the performance of the nonagenarian Pete Seeger, an aging icon of the Sixties, accompanied by his son Tao, Bruce Springsteen, and a choir of children, at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, a figure intimately associated by many with a fulfilment of at least some of the progressive potential of the Sixties. The event encapsulated an overlooked legacy of the Sixties: televised old age and intergenerationalism. From 1965 to 1966, Seeger produced and presented thirty-nine episodes of Rainbow Quest, a television program in which the musician-activist shared songs and conversation with a diverse set of guests. The show has attracted the interest of several scholars for the ways it reflected Seeger’s enthusiasm for internationalism, multiculturalism, world “folk” music, and, surprisingly, the mass media. Yet few have given thought to the overrepresentation of older musicians on the show: over half of the episodes feature at least one guest in their late fifties or older, often paired with younger performers. The program represents a strident, if underrecognized, zeal for intergenerationalism on the part of an iconic Sixties performer, and challenges essentialization of the era as one of pervasive youth culture and generational division. This article reappraises Rainbow Quest with this age frame by identifying the role of aging and generational identity in the making of the show, and the risks of inadvertently reinforcing entrenched ageist tropes on television. Rainbow Quest also serves as a useful springboard for reconsidering some of the specific complexities of the folk revival, particularly its relative uniqueness as a site of intergenerationalism. Just as significantly, this article also situates notions of aging as significant threads in the interconnected and shifting web of race, class, and gender dynamics that characterized the Sixties, Seeger’s career, and the folk scene he helped build.

中文翻译：

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皮特·西格的彩虹探索：电视晚年、代际主义和美国民间音乐

摘要 2009 年，世界各地的电视网络播放了 60 年代的老年偶像皮特·西格 (Pete Seeger) 在他的儿子陶、布鲁斯·斯普林斯汀 (Bruce Springsteen) 和儿童合唱团的陪同下，在巴拉克·奥巴马 (Barack Obama) 总统就职典礼上的表演。许多人至少实现了 60 年代的一些进步潜力。该事件概括了 60 年代被忽视的遗产：电视晚年和代际主义。从 1965 年到 1966 年，西格制作并推出了三十九集《彩虹探秘》，这是一个电视节目，音乐家兼活动家在节目中与不同的客人分享歌曲和对话。该节目吸引了几位学者的兴趣，因为它反映了西格对国际主义、多元文化主义、世界“民间”音乐的热情，而且令人惊讶的是，大众媒体。然而，很少有人考虑到节目中年长音乐家的人数过多：超过一半的剧集至少有一位五十多岁或以上的客人，通常与年轻的表演者配对。该节目代表了一位标志性的 60 年代表演者对代际主义的强烈热情（如果未被充分认识），并挑战时代作为无处不在的青年文化和代际分裂之一的本质化。本文通过确定年龄和代际身份在节目制作中的作用，以及在电视上无意中强化根深蒂固的年龄歧视比喻的风险，重新评估了《彩虹探秘》这个年龄框架。Rainbow Quest 还可以作为一个有用的跳板来重新考虑民间复兴的一些具体复杂性，尤其是它作为代际主义场所的相对独特性。同样重要的是，本文还将衰老的概念定位为相互关联和不断变化的种族、阶级和性别动态网络中的重要线索，这些网络以 60 年代、西格的职业生涯和他帮助建立的民间场景为特征。