University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Communication Studies, Department of Student Research Spring 4-22-2015 In(di)visible Dream: Rhetoric, Myth, and the Road in America Raymond Blanton University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstuddiss Part of the Rhetoric Commons Blanton, Raymond, "In(di)visible Dream: Rhetoric, Myth, and the Road in America" (2015). Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research. 31. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstuddiss/31 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Communication Studies, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. IN(DI)VISIBLE DREAM: RHETORIC, MYTH, AND THE ROAD IN AMERICA by Raymond L. Blanton A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Communication Studies Under the Supervision of Professor Ronald Lee Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2015 iv IN(DI)VISIBLE DREAM: RHETORIC, MYTH, AND THE ROAD IN AMERICA Raymond L. Blanton, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2015 Adviser: Ronald Lee This dissertation takes a rhetorical approach in exploring the mythology of the road in American culture, and in particular the road as an encounter with the other. Specifically, I argue for the road as a mythic archetype, developing an ultimate vocabulary of the road as an Upward/Downward Way in an effort to transcend the dialectical tensions inherent in extant discourse of the road as rebellion. I begin by situating the road as psychagogic rhetoric, a leading of the soul, in Plato’s Phaedrus, to delineate a fixed and reasoned progression of an ultimate order of the road. Then, I extend these considerations to the road in American culture. From there, I substantiate these claims in two distinct but interrelated case studies, each a demonstration of the Upward/Downward Way in relation to particular periods, places, people, and poetry in twentieth-century American culture. In my first case study, I focus on the archetype in American folk music, attending to the road as a rhetorical encounter with the other in the fieldwork of folklorist Alan Lomax in the Mississippi Delta. In my second case study, I explore the archetype in public discourse, centering on the road as a rhetorical encounter with the other in the civic and sermonic discourse of Martin Luther King Jr. in the American civil rights movement. Throughout this study, I bring elements of rhetoric, myth, and the road in American culture into critical focus, employing John Durham Peters’ “hermeneutic principle of retroactive enrichment,” I reread aspects of rhetorical iii history and American culture. Furthermore, I build on ideas in Richard T. Hughes’ critical work on myth in America and Kenneth Burke’s mythic methodology to substantiate my claims. My ultimate objective is to emphasize the archetypal (Upward) and ethical (Downward) dimensions of an ultimate order of the road as an encounter with the other, with the aim of equipping scholars of rhetoric, media, and culture with a new critical lens for understanding how the road functions rhetorically, mythologically, and poetically in American culture. iv © 2015, Raymond L. Blanton v The cities of a world of nations, with all their manners, minds, and fashions, he saw and knew. -Homer, The Odyssey (trans. George Chapman 1615) As regards languages, I believed that I had already devoted sufficient time to them, and even also to the writings of the ancients, to their histories and mythical stories. To hold converse with those of other ages is almost, as it were, to travel abroad; and travel, by making us acquainted with the customs of other nations, enables us to judge more justly of our own, and not to regard as ridiculous and irrational whatever is at variance with them, as those ordinarily do who have never seen anything different. –Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method (1637) Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. –Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad (1869) Folklore can show us that this dream is age-old and common to all mankind. It asks that we recognize the cultural rights of weaker peoples in sharing this dream. And it can make their adjustment to a world society an easier and more creative process. The stuff of folklore—the orally transmitted wisdom, art and music of the people can provide ten thousand bridges across which men of all nations may stride to say, “You are my brother.” –Alan Lomax, “America Sings the Saga of America” (1947) This is always one of the interesting things about traveling, that you learn to know people. Travel abroad. I think this is the greatest education that can ever come to an individual. I think if more of our white brothers in the South had traveled a little more, many of our problems would be solved today. So often we live in our little shells because we’ve never risen above the province. We’ve never risen above sectionalism. And so it was a great pleasure to meet people, various sections of the world, various sections of our own nation. -Martin Luther King, Jr., “A Walk Through the Holy Land” (1959) [Communication] the task is to recognize the creature’s otherness, not to make it over in one’s own likeness and image […] To live among others is necessarily to incur obligations; to be mortal is to be incapable of paying them all back […] To treat others as we would want to be treated means performing for them in such a way not that the self is authentically represented but that the other is caringly served. -John Durham Peters, Speaking Into the Air (2000) iv IN MEMORIAM I dedicate this project to the memory of Ronald Ray Blanton, my father, in whom the spirit of the road is now so evident to me. I also dedicate this project to the memory of several individuals with whom I will not be able to share in the joy of its completion. For Mick Langley, who believed in me when I did not believe in myself; for J. Alan Groves, who showed me humility, cultural awareness, and fortitude; and for Karen Lee, in honor of Ronald Lee, for her inspiring faith and ever-ready willingness to serve others. For Ronald, Mick, Al, and Karen. vii DEDICATION I dedicate this project, with the utmost appreciation, to my wife Hope Annette (Maher) Blanton, for her steadfast support, particularly during dogged days of doubt. Comparably, I dedicate this project to Cana, Thea, and Nias (our children), whose rambunctious spirits have given me countless hours of necessary respite and retreat. I hope this completed work reminds you to be vigilant and diligent in all that you do. You are my living, active, and endless dissertations. Furthermore, I dedicate this work to my beloved parents. To the late Ronald Ray Blanton, whose work ethic, cultural curiosities, and quiet sacrifices are so fundamental to who I am and what I do. I am ever grateful for the possibilities you envisioned and the opportunities you provided, even when you were not able to share in actualizing them with me. To Evelyn Lorene Blanton, my mother, for her loyal love and faithful support, that has carried me through the valleys of our days in the Redwood Estates trailer park to the peaks of this accomplishment. Finally, though no less important, to March and Sheila Maher, whose great care and comfort has helped see us through these seasons of domestic migratory travel and adventure. Immeasurable gratitude. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Maintaining the theme of this project, it has been a long road. Many people along the way have contributed to my overall growth. First, to the teachers and mentors who patiently guided and assisted me, helping pave the way for this accomplishment. To my dissertation adviser, Ronald Lee, thank you for your unwavering faith in me. Your advice is continually apt and adept. Your feedback is consistently keen and innervating. I will miss, though fondly remember, all of our confabs at the Parkway Pub. Likewise, I am also grateful for my dissertation committee. To Damien Pfister, thank you for your enthusiastic instruction and wit, your rhetorical and cultural sensibilities, and love of gardening. To Carly Woods, thank you for your refined sense of detail and critical clarity. To Marco Abel, thank you for your keen erudition and pedagogy and your timely and insightful advice about “necessary failures.” To my courtesy committee member, John Durham Peters, thank you for your adventurous intellectual spirit, your commitment to living an examined life, and your love of language (and ultimate Frisbee). Moreover, I would be remiss if I did not also mention those educators who set the stage for this production. At Texas Christian University, I am grateful for the advice of Joyce Allman, the snappy wit and animated pedagogy of the late Ralph Behnke, and in particular, the patience and graciousness of Melissa Schroeder. At Westminster Theological Seminary, I am indebted to Sam Logan, Peter Enns, Jerry McFarland, Ed Welch, David Powlison, Mike Emlet, William Edgar, John Leonard,