A Comparative Analysis of Cultural Narratives in Vietnam Era and Post-9/11 Anti-War Music Jonathan Nathaniel Redman University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
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University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 5-2016 Movements, Music, and Meaning: A Comparative Analysis of Cultural Narratives In Vietnam Era and Post-9/11 Anti-War Music Jonathan Nathaniel Redman University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the American Popular Culture Commons, Musicology Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Redman, Jonathan Nathaniel, "Movements, Music, and Meaning: A Comparative Analysis of Cultural Narratives In Vietnam Era and Post-9/11 Anti-War Music" (2016). Theses and Dissertations. 1582. http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/1582 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Movements, Music, & Meaning: A Comparative Analysis of Cultural Narratives In Vietnam Era and Post-9/11 Anti-War Music A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology By Jonathan N. Redman Rhodes College Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, 2014 May 2016 University of Arkansas This Thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. _________________________________ Dr. Lori Holyfield Thesis Director ________________________________ _____________________________ Dr. Juan Bustamante Dr. Steven Worden Committee Member Committee Member Abstract This thesis examines the presence of widely circulating cultural narratives in the lyrics of approximately eighty anti-war songs from the Vietnam and post-9/11 eras. Unlike prior movements and music research, this thesis privileges culture over movements and views movements as cultural antennae both picking up on trends and cultural narratives, and broadcasting their own altered cultural meanings back into the “cultural airways.” It sees music as a cultural medium which acquires cultural meanings from its surroundings, alters those meanings, synthesizes new ones, and perpetuates old ones. Drawing on comparative and narrative analysis approaches informed by grounded theory techniques, this thesis finds evidence for a major shift over time from a focus on death and destruction and a countercultural vision to a focus on government mistrust and global anti-imperialism. ©2016 by Jonathan Redman All Rights Reserved Table of Contents I. Chapter1: Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 A. Statement of Problem ........................................................................................................ 2 B. Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 4 II. Chapter 2: Literature Review ................................................................................................. 5 A. Culture and Narrative ........................................................................................................ 5 1. Formula Stories and Public Discourse .......................................................................... 9 2. Sub-Cultural Narratives and Social Movement Frames ............................................. 11 B. Social Movements and Music ......................................................................................... 12 1. Definitions of Music and Protest Songs...................................................................... 12 2. Music and Emotion ..................................................................................................... 14 3. Social Movements and Music: An Overview ............................................................. 17 4. Political Music’s Functions within Movements ......................................................... 17 5. Social Movements as Sites of Cultural Experimentation ........................................... 20 6. Movements as Concrete Contexts ............................................................................... 23 7. Comparative and Narrative Approaches to Anti-War Music ..................................... 25 8. Music, Movements, and Meaning ............................................................................... 27 III. Chapter 3: Context - Conflicts, Frames, and Discourses .................................................... 32 A. Historical Contexts: Wars and Anti-war Movements ..................................................... 33 1. The Vietnam War ........................................................................................................ 33 2. The War on Terror ..................................................................................................... 34 3. Comparing These Conflicts ........................................................................................ 36 4. Vietnam Era Anti-War Movement .............................................................................. 38 5 Post 9/11 Anti-war Movements .................................................................................. 39 6. Contrasting the Movements ........................................................................................ 40 B. Vietnam and Post-911 Collective Action Frames ........................................................... 41 1. Vietnam Anti-war Collective Action frames .............................................................. 42 2 Post 9/11 anti-war Collective Action Frames ............................................................. 47 3. Comparing and Contrasting: Frames in Vietnam and Post 9/11 Antiwar Movements51 C. Hegemonic Discourses Around the Vietnam and Post-911 Conflicts ............................... 53 1. Vietnam Era Hegemonic Discourse ............................................................................ 54 2. War on Terror discourse: ............................................................................................ 57 3. Comparing Vietnam and Post-911 Hegemonic Discourses ........................................ 60 D. Understanding Conflicts, Frames, and Discourses as Contexts ...................................... 61 IV. Chapter 4: Data, Methods, and Analysis ............................................................................ 62 A. Data and Sampling .......................................................................................................... 62 1. Data Definitions and Scope ........................................................................................ 62 2. Database Construction ................................................................................................ 63 3. A Note on Weighting .................................................................................................. 64 4. Sampling Procedure .................................................................................................... 65 5. Describing the Samples............................................................................................... 66 B. Narrative Analysis: A Methodological Framework ........................................................ 70 1. Overview ..................................................................................................................... 70 2. Initial and Focused Coding ......................................................................................... 70 3. Cultural Narrative Analysis ........................................................................................ 71 4. Symbolic and Emotion Codes ..................................................................................... 74 V. Chapter 5: Findings .............................................................................................................. 76 A. Section 1: Cultural Narratives in Vietnam and post-9ll Anti-war Songs ........................ 77 1. Narrative Elements – Section 1................................................................................... 77 2. Symbolic and Emotion Codes – Section 1 .................................................................. 82 B. Section 2 - Moral Outrage: From Death and Destruction to Government Mistrust ........ 93 1. Narrative Elements - Section 2 ................................................................................... 93 2. Symbolic and Emotion Codes - Section 2 ................................................................ 102 i. Unpacking “Death and Destruction” .................................................................... 109 ii. Unpacking “Arrogant Leaders” ............................................................................ 112 iii. Unpacking “Government Mistrust” ...................................................................... 114 B. Section 3 - Movement Focus: From Countercultural Vision to Globalized Anti- Imperialism ................................................................................................................................. 118 1. Narrative Elements- Section 3: ................................................................................ 119 2. Symbolic and Emotion Codes – Section 3 ........................................................................... 129 i. Unpacking Codes Around “Youth” ...................................................................... 131 ii. Unpacking “Peace” and “Love” ..........................................................................