A Race of Singers: Whitman's Working-class Hero from Guthrie to Springsteen (Cultural Studies of the United States) - Hardcover

Garman, Bryan K.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807825581 ISBN 13: 9780807825587

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2000

Synopsis

When Walt Whitman published "Leaves of Grass" in 1855, he dreamed of inspiring "a race of singers" who would celebrate the working class and realize the promise of American democracy. By examining how singers such as Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springstein both embraced and reconfigured Whitman's vision, Bryan Garman shows that Whitman succeeded. In doing so, Garman celebrates the triumphs yet also exposes the limitations of Whitman's legacy. While Whitman's verse propounded notions of sexual freedom and renounced the competitiveness of capitalism, it also safeguarded the interests of the white workingman, often at the expense of women and people of colour. Garman describes how each of Whitman's successors adopted the mantle of the working-class hero while adapting the role to his own generation's concerns: Guthrie condemned racism in the 1930s, Dylan addressed race and war in the 1960s and Springstein explored sexism, racism and homophobia in the 1980s and 1990s. But as Garman points out, even the Boss, like his forebears, tends to represent solidarity in terms of white male bonding and homosocial allegiance. We can hear America singing in the voices of these artists, Garman says, but it is still the song of a white, male America.

About this title

Review:

Acknowledging the genius and power of Whitman's example, this fine study of artistic influence also shows how social forces shaped the reproduction of a manly and individualistic cultural radicalism across generations. (David Roediger, University of Minnesota) "Whether your interest is in literature, history, culture, music . . . or specific figures such as Whitman, Guthrie, and Springsteen, I predict you will be stimulated by the reading of A Race of Singers." -- "Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies" "[An] interesting study. . . . Very well written and admirably researched." -- "Journal of the American Studies Association of Texas" "A Race of Singers" contributes tremendously to our understanding of . . . male homoeroticism.Cecelia Tichi, Vanderbilt University Fine study of artistic influence.David Roediger, University of Minnesota Well written, well researched, and provocative."Library Journal" ""A Race of Singers" contributes tremendously to our understanding of . . . male homoeroticism.Cecelia Tichi, Vanderbilt University" "Fine study of artistic influence.David Roediger, University of Minnesota" "Well written, well researched, and provocative."Library Journal""

About the Author:

Bryan K. Garman, who received his Ph.D. from Emory University, is chair of the history department at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C.

About this edition

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0807825581
• ISBN 13: 9780807825587
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352