Sufjan Stevens started his famous "The Fifty States Project" in 2003, the goal of which was to record an album about every state of the United States of America. He made two LPs about his two favorite states – Michigan and Illinois. The first album, simply titled "Michigan," was released in 2003. He constructed the image of Michigan from the point of view of a person who was born and grew up there, then migrated to New York City M aciej Sm ółka and was sentimental about the region of their childhood. Each song was a homage to the beloved home state, telling stories about places, people, cities and natural sites. ThisT LP is a very interesting piece that not only lets one study the way in which the author constructs the image of one’s homeland, but also how he deconstructs the stereotypes, Maciej Smółka publicizes some regional issues, and at the same time promotes the state through music. Say Yes! to M ichigan Because of that, the main purpose of this book is to research Sufjan Stevens's album in the context of the image of the state of Michigan it represents. Say Yes! to Moreover,Mo the analysis of "Michigan" provides valuable information about the popular culture in general – how instrumental can it be in shaping one's impression about a parti- cular place, what is the role of the author of a specific cultural text, what artistic measu- res are used to construct such an impression, and what effects it may cause. Image of the State of Michigan And Its Construction In Sufjan Stevens’s Album “Michigan” Maciej Smółka – a doctoral student in Cultural Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, specializing in Popular Music Studies, B.A. in Cultural Studies, M.A in Ameri- can Studies at JU. He is a former President of the Students’ Society for American Studies at the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora, JU. Also an active participant in numerous Polish and international academic conferences, author of peer-reviewed pa- pers and popular science articles, and a member of International Association for the Study of Popular Music. He was a visiting researcher at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA in 2015. A critic, fan and researcher of popular music, specializing in the history of blues, rock, contemporary artists, and local music scenes. [email protected] twitter.com/macieksmolka jagiellonian.academia.edu/maciejsmolka ISBN 978-83-63910-70-9 Say Yes! to Michigan Image of the State of Michigan And Its Construction In Sufjan Stevens’s Album “Michigan” Maciej Smółka Say Yes! to Michigan Image of the State of Michigan And Its Construction In Sufjan Stevens’s Album “Michigan” Dedicated to: Moira, Korey, Tyce, Holden, Marlee, Kayla, Katherine, Ryan, Nicole, Irina, Anna, Scott, James, Nick, Tyler, Mari, Jesús, Tomasz, prof. Pacyga, prof. Kaliss, Dickinson College staff, and every person I met during my stay in the US who inspired my research. Kraków 2017 Say Yes! to Michigan Image of the State of Michigan And Its Construction In Sufj an Stevens’s Album “Michigan” Review: Radosław Rybkowski, Ph.D. Proof-reading: Joanna Kucharska Cover design: Szymon Drobniak Interior design: Aleksandra Winiarska The publication is funded by the Ph.D. Students' Association of the Jagiellonian University © Copyright by Maciej Smółka & AT Wydawnictwo ISBN: 978-83-63910-70-9 AT Wydawnictwo www.atwydawnictwo.pl table of content Introduction 7 Part I – All Good Naysayers, Speak Up!: Introduction to Sufjan Stevens’s Michigan 1. Chapter One: Theoretical Introduction 12 1.1. Local History and Its Significance 12 1.2. Cultural Texts and Local History 15 1.3. Perception of Place Through the Lenses of Cultural Texts 16 1.3.1. Examples 18 1.3.2. Their Influence on Culture and Society 22 1.4. Local History, Folklore, Microhistory, and Image of Places in Cultural Texts 23 2. Chapter Two: Background of Michigan LP 25 2.1. Sufjan Stevens 25 2.2. The Fifty States Project 28 2.3. Uniqueness of Michigan Album 30 Part II – Say Yes! to Michigan: Sufjan Stevens – Michigan 3. Chapter Three: Visual Design 34 3.1. Visual Design’s Structure 35 3.2. Visual Design’s Analysis 36 3.2.1. The Role of Visual Design 37 3.2.2. Analysis and Historical Importance of Graphic Content 40 3.2.3. Initial Image Construction 49 4. Chapter Four: Texts 51 4.1. Texts’ Structure 52 4.1.1. Packaging and Vinyl Discs 52 4.1.2. Lyrics 52 4.2. Texts’ Analysis 53 4.2.1. Packaging and Vinyl Discs 54 4.2.2. Lyrics 60 4.3. The Most Frequently Used Themes 73 4.3.1. Theme of History and Reality 74 4.3.2. Theme of Nature 77 4.3.3. Theme of Social Issues and Politics 78 4.3.4. Theme of Personal Reflections 81 4.3.5. Theme of Religion 83 5 4.4. Title-lyrics Relations 84 4.5. Usage of Symbolism and Allusions to the State of Michigan 86 5. Chapter Five: Music 89 5.1. Musical Structure 91 5.2. Analysis of Music 93 5.3. Role of Music in Perception of Album 99 5.3.1. General Stylistic and Setting the Mood 100 5.3.2. Highlighting Lyrics 103 5.3.3. References to the State of Michigan 104 Part III – Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!: Image of the State of Michigan and Its Construction 6. Chapter Six: Analysis of Michigan LP 108 6.1. Correspondence Between the Three Layers of Michigan Album 111 6.2. Image of the State of Michigan 112 6.2.1. Author’s Perspective 115 6.2.2. Image and Implied Reality 116 6.3. Process of the Construction of the State of Michigan’s Image 117 6.3.1. Role of Symbolism, Nostalgia, and Patriotism 119 6.3.2. Role of Local History 121 6.3.2.1. Main Themes 122 6.3.2.2. Omitted Themes 123 7. Chapter Seven: Interpretation of Michigan 127 7.1. The Degree of Imposing Interpretation 128 7.2. Possible Interpretations of Michigan LP 129 7.2.1. Autobiography 131 7.2.2. Documentary 132 7.2.3. Artistic Vision 134 7.2.4. State’s Promotion 135 7.2.5. Homage 136 7.3. Michigan as Local History, Folklore, Microhistory 138 8. Conclusion 142 9. Bibliography 146 9.1. Primary Sources 146 9.2. Secondary Sources 146 9.2.1. Books 146 9.2.2. Online Sources 147 9.2.3. Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers 153 9.2.4. Other 153 6 Introduction Michigan is a beautiful and fascinating state. This is practically proven by hundreds of scholars who devoted their academic research to the region in question. One of them – a prominent and renowned professor Willis F. Dun- bar, who specializes in Michigan history, wrote in the preface to his famous textbook Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State that “Michigan is perhaps the least typical of all the original forty-eight states in the Union.” He also wrote about its extraordinary geography, diverse climate, fascinating history, and political scene.1 The importance and great significance of the Great Lake State cannot be over- rated. With Detroit being once a center of country-wide automobile industry, it played crucial role in constructing American society and shaping it to what it is today. But Motor City is not the only fascinating aspect of this state. The uni- versity in Ann Arbor, as well as the rich and stunningly beautiful nature in the Upper Peninsula, lumber industry, instrumental in early American economy of Midwest, must be noted among others. One has to keep in mind that the state of Michigan also has a great tradition of its local cultures, including Yoopers, music scenes, popular sport clubs such as Detroit Tigers or Detroit Red Wings, progressive schools of thought with Henry Ford’s being the most popular one, making this region one of a kind. Because of that, one may conclude that Mich- igan has a rich potential to be studied, researched and known better. However, the Wolverine State’s likeliness to be source of academic knowl- edge is not limited only to acquiring pieces of information about solely its communities, behaviors, or history in general. Dunbar rightly drew attention to one more aspect concerning Michigan and its importance in this context. He wrote that when one looks at this tradition of local structure – a state, one can see what the United States truly are – “This interest [in local history] per- haps reflects a comprehension that here are the grass roots of our history as a nation.”2 From analyzing a single, smaller piece of a bigger whole, a person is able to understand processes, facts, or tendencies of a nation or country more fully. This is one of the reasons why methodology of microhistory or 1 W. F. Dunbar, G. S. May, Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State, Grand Rap- ids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company 1995, p. x. 2 Ibidem, p. xi. 7 Introductio n folklore studies are used in historic analysis so often. A person can conclude from this way of thinking that the perception of each state as an individual part changes or reflects how one sees whole United States. With this frame- work in mind, one could think, for example, about the perception of those states which represent very characteristic, sometimes pop cultural images like Texas, New York, California, or even Wyoming. Nevertheless, Michigan with its diversity of all kinds, is also a great illustration of how the image can influ- ence foreigner’s or even American’s view of this country.