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How Appalachian Women Ballad Singers' Repertoire Choices Reflect

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How Appalachian Women Ballad Singers' Repertoire Choices Reflect East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 12-2018 “I’ve Always Identified with the omen:”W How Appalachian Women Ballad Singers’ Repertoire Choices Reflect Their Gendered Concerns Sara Lynch-Thomason East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Appalachian Studies Commons, Ethnomusicology Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Lynch-Thomason, Sara, "“I’ve Always Identified with the omen:”W How Appalachian Women Ballad Singers’ Repertoire Choices Reflect Their Gendered Concerns" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3488. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3488 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “I’ve Always Identified with the Women:” How Appalachian Women Ballad Singers’ Repertoire Choices Reflect Their Gendered Concerns _____________________ A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Appalachian Studies East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Appalachian Studies _____________________ by Sara Lynch-Thomason December 2018 _____________________ Dr. Lee Bidgood, Chair Dr. Katie Hoffman Dr. Rebecca Adkins Fletcher Dr. Marie Tedesco Keywords: Ballad Singing, Women Singers, Madison County, Feminism and Folklore, Oral Tradition, Folk Song, Appalachian Music ABSTRACT “I’ve Always Identified with the Women:” How Appalachian Women Ballad Singers’ Repertoire Choices Reflect Their Gendered Concerns by Sara Lynch-Thomason This thesis explores how contemporary Appalachian women’s gendered experiences influence their choices of ballad repertoire. This inquiry is pursued through a feminist analysis of interviews with six women ballad singers from Madison County, North Carolina. In evaluating the women’s choices of ballads and their commentary on the songs, this thesis draws upon narratological theories as well as concepts from Appalachian traditional music studies. This study finds that women’s repertoire preferences reveal contemporary female concerns for physical safety and political agency. The singers also extract hidden transcripts from ballad texts and use ballads to educate audiences about women’s historic oppression. However, some singers find other factors, such as a song’s tune, or its significance as a part of regional heritage, to be more significant than the narrative content of the songs. This work affirms the contemporary influences of gendered concerns in ballad singing communities. 2 Copyright 2018 by Sara Lynch-Thomason All Rights Reserved 3 DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my great-grandmother Pearl Hatfield. I am most grateful that this resilient Appalachian woman passed her curiosity about the world to my Mamaw, who passed it on to my mother, who passed it on to me. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to each of my committee members for their generous support through every stage of my thesis-writing process. I would also like to thank my mother, Corbin Hayslett, and Becky Beyer for feedback and emotional support. And finally, thanks to Dr. Jane MacMorran for introducing me to Thomas Burton’s Some Ballad Folks. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................2 DEDICATION .................................................................................................................................4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................5 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................9 Singing Communities in Madison County .........................................................................12 Theory and Methodology ...................................................................................................17 The Interviews, Coding, and an Introduction to the Participants ..........................17 Feminist Methodology and Gender-Related Terminology ....................................26 Feminist Narratology .............................................................................................30 Ballads....................................................................................................................32 Contributed Terminology.......................................................................................34 Appalachian Women’s Status as Ballad Singers ...............................................................37 Plan of Work ......................................................................................................................41 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................44 Gender and Ballad Repertoires ..........................................................................................45 Appalachian Women Singers in Scholarly Research and Commercial Media ..................54 6 Madison County: Scholarly Research, Commercial Media, and Changes in Oral Tradition .............................................................................................................................60 3. EMOTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH BALLADRY ........................................................67 Defining and Interpreting Ballads ......................................................................................68 Narrative Empathy .............................................................................................................74 Communal Relationships with Balladry ............................................................................80 Musical, Literary, and Folkloric Attractions to Ballads ....................................................87 4. DISLIKED BALLADS AND FASCINATION BALLADS ...................................................94 Suffering in Childbirth and the Suffering of Children .......................................................95 Femicide Ballads and Unequal Treatment .........................................................................98 “It’s Not Just About the Words:” “The Knoxville Girl” Ballad ......................................105 Fascination Ballads ..........................................................................................................111 5. FAVORED BALLADS .........................................................................................................119 Gender Disguise Ballads and Reversals of Gendered Expectations ................................120 Realistic and Capable Behavior .......................................................................................126 Ballads that Can Be Used to Foster Empathy for the Sociohistorical Circumstances of Women.........................................................................................................................128 Ballads that Overtly Address Women’s Experiences and Have a Female Narrative Voice ................................................................................................................................134 7 6. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................144 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................150 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................158 Appendix A: Informed Consent Form .............................................................................158 Appendix B: Biographical Survey ...................................................................................160 Appendix C: Interview Questions ....................................................................................161 Appendix D: Questions for Donna Ray Norton, Second Interview.................................163 VITA ........................................................................................................................................... 165 8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Story One: A robber comes across three sisters in the woods. He alternately commands each sister to choose between marrying him or dying by his hand. The first two sisters refuse his demand of marriage, and he kills them both. The third sister, however, threatens the robber, telling him that were he to kill her, her brother Baby Lon would avenge her death. Suddenly realizing that this woman is his sister and that he has murdered his other siblings, the robber ends his life with his “wee pen-knife.” Story Two: Phyllis and Mari, two friends attending a concert, are kidnapped by four sadistic criminals. Over a few days’ time, the criminals brutally torture, sexually violate, and ultimately murder the two women. The criminals unwittingly arrive at the home of Mari’s parents. Mari’s mother realizes what has taken place, and she and her husband murder each criminal one by one. Story Three: Three sisters are out for a walk. In
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