BURKE'S RHETORIC OF REORIENTATION IN HANK WILLIAMS' HONKY-TONK PERFORMANCE Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this thesis is my own or was done in collaboration with my advisory committee. This thesis does not include proprietary or classified information. ___________________________ Gregory Wright Robinson Certificate of Approval: ____________________________ ____________________________ Deron Overpeck Kristen Hoerl, Chair Assistant Professor Assistant Professor Communication and Journalism Communication and Journalism _________________________ ____________________________ George Plasketes George T. Flowers Professor Dean Communication and Journalism Graduate School BURKE'S RHETORIC OF REORIENTATION IN HANK WILLIAMS' HONKY-TONK PERFORMANCE Gregory Wright Robinson A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of the Arts Auburn, Alabama August 10, 2008 BURKE'S RHETORIC OF REORIENTATION IN HANK WILLIAMS' HONKY-TONK PERFORMANCE Gregory Wright Robinson Permission is granted to Auburn University to make copies of this thesis at its discretion, upon request of individuals or institutions at their expense. The author reserves all publication rights. _____________________________ Signature of Author _____________________________ Date of Graduation iii VITA Gregory Wright Robinson was born April 25, 1984, in Adel, GA to James David Robinson and Wanda McDaniel Robinson. He was an honor graduate from Cook County High School in 2002. Gregory found his affinity for communication studies under the inspiring faculty at Valdosta State University. During this time, he was an active member of the Lambda Pi Eta communication society, and was elected its creative director. Gregory was named outstanding speech communication student for the 2006-2007 school year. After graduating summa cum laude with his Bachelor of the Arts in Speech Communication, he sought his scholarly niche at Auburn University, where he entered graduate school in December, 2006. Gregory is an amateur singer/songwriter and avid music fan. iv THESIS ABSTRACT BURKE'S RHETORIC OF REORIENTATION IN HANK WILLIAMS' HONKY-TONK PERFORMANCE Gregory Wright Robinson Master of the Arts, August 10, 2009 (B.A., Valdosta State University, 2006) 197 Typed Pages Directed by Kristen Hoerl Music can be a powerful form of constitutive rhetoric. Country music has garnered little attention from rhetoricians despite being a highly adaptive folk-form through the first half of the 20th century. In particular, the post-war honky-tonk subgenre addressed the cultural dislocation of many rural-to-urban migrants. During the post-war decade, Hank Williams was the most important artist in elevating the regional, honky- tonk style to national prominence. He embraced traditional style markers while extending the rural sense of community into the urban milieu. This study employs Kenneth Burke's concepts of piety, perspective by incongruity, and recalcitrance in order to discuss Williams' honky-tonk rhetoric of reorientation as it appears in his 1949 Health and Happiness show radio transcriptions. In terms of his rural-to-urban peers, Williams most notably constructed romantic love as a v struggle toward this-worldly spiritual salvation. His rhetoric also symbolized marginal national sentiments about consumerism and masculinity. This study suggests that music may both preserve and challenge cultural understandings as part of an incremental rhetorical process. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author first thanks his committee chair, Dr. Kristen Hoerl, for supporting his creative impulses and pushing him to articulate them as best as he possibly could. Dr. Hoerl strikes a magnificent balance between fastidious critic and scholarly confidant. He also thanks his committee members, Dr. George Plasketes and Dr. Deron Overpeck, for offering diverse expertise and approaching this project with sustained enthusiasm. The author has had the privilege of working with many supportive, caring, and intelligent fellow graduate students who have kept him sane and confident. Especially Megan Rector, Nick Kirby, Mel Voynich, and Andrew Davis have been invaluable to him throughout this process. Many Auburn faculty members have shown personal interest in his success, which has played no small part in his persistence, including Dr. Emmett Winn, Dr. Brigitta Brunner, Dr. Robert Agne, Dr. David Sutton, Dr. Debra Worthington, and Dr. Mary Helen Brown. He is also grateful for the initial push and continued support from his Valdosta State University professors: Dr. John Magnasco, Dr. William Faux, Dr. Michael Eaves, and Dr. Deborah Robson. Finally, he thanks friends, Anthony Tortomase and Thad Megow, his patient partner, Mollie Blackwood, and his family, for sticking around. vii American Psychological Association Style Manual (5th ed.) Microsoft Word 2003 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 II. COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY .............................................................................. 5 Country as Southern Music .......................................................................... 6 Early Commercial Hillbilly .......................................................................... 8 First Country Recordings ........................................................................... 10 Depression-Era Developments ................................................................... 12 World War II in Country History ............................................................... 17 Post-War Honky-Tonk ............................................................................... 19 III. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 24 Content Analyses ....................................................................................... 25 Sociological Studies ................................................................................... 28 Cultural Studies .......................................................................................... 31 Critical and Interpretive Analyses .............................................................. 38 Literature Conclusion ................................................................................. 44 IV. METHOD Critique of Literature ................................................................................. 46 Research Question ...................................................................................... 49 Description of Artifact ............................................................................... 49 Rhetorical Theory ...................................................................................... 52 Burkean Methodology ................................................................................ 56 V. HANK WILLIAMS: HONKY-TONK Childhood ................................................................................................... 74 Rising Star of Montgomery ........................................................................ 76 Early Recordings ........................................................................................ 78 The Big Time ............................................................................................. 81 Dark Days .................................................................................................. 85 Tragic End .................................................................................................. 87 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 88 ix VI. ANALYSIS 1. Country Music Piety: Appropriate Genre Elements .............................. 92 Religiosity ..................................................................................... 93 Commercialism ............................................................................. 98 Piety of Performance: Community Reinforcement ..................... 103 Domestic Piety ............................................................................ 112 Conclusion ................................................................................... 113 2. Perspective by Incongruity: Adjusting the Symbols of Country ......... 115 Happy-Rovin', Lonesome-Cryin', Cowboy ................................. 115 Honky-Tonk Homecoming ......................................................... 117 Communal Alienation ................................................................. 122 Love Almighty ............................................................................ 127 Conclusion ................................................................................... 134 3. Recalcitrance: Submerged Sentiments of a National Audience ........... 135 The Context: Age of Anxiety ...................................................... 136 Middle-Class Discomfort ............................................................ 140 The Home Front: Love and Marriage ......................................... 144 Masculinity .................................................................................. 153 Conclusion ................................................................................... 162 VII. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................. 164 REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................