Mythology in Music: The Ballad of Loretta Lynn

Author:

Banes Ruth A.

Abstract

Well, I was borned a Coal Miner's Daughter In a Cabin on a hill in Butcher Holler (Loretta Lynn) The ballad of Loretta Lynn is a legend born through a complex interaction between truth and fiction, individual and social history, myth, region, music, urban society and folk culture.* The "Coal Miner's Daughter," a popular myth of working-class Southern women which Loretta Lynn has both created and portrayed, may become as pervasive as the myth of the antebellum Southern lady, the belle, Scarlett O'Hara, or the benighted, but beautiful hillbilly, Daisy Mae. Through music and autobiography, the image and reality of Loretta Lynn have become so nearly equated that it is difficult to untangle the threads of regional and national culture which are so tightly bound in her image. Closely and consistently resembling the married woman portrayed in her lyrics and recordings, Loretta Lynn is a rural Southerner who represents the traditional value-orientation of Southern culture through her original compositions and her authentic folk style. Her autobiographical music and her life story provide important information about the social history of white, working-class, rural Southern women, and she appeals particularly to a female audience by combining liberated and traditional gender roles in her lyrics. At the same time, she reinforces the American values of individualism, patriotism and freedom. The fact that Loretta Lynn's often repeated life history has become the basis of a popular song, a popular film and a best-selling autobiography—each entitled Coal Miners Daughter— indicates the public's receptivity to her portrayal of Southern culture. She has become a contemporary Southern myth.1

Publisher

University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress)

Subject

Literature and Literary Theory,History,Cultural Studies

Cited by 2 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3