Advisory Committee Chair
Cynthia Ryan
Advisory Committee Members
Kyle Grimes
Bruce M McComiskey
Karen Utz
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2012
Degree Name by School
Master of Arts (MA) College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
As rural America evolves from its agrarian roots, an onslaught of economic, geographic, and societal changes affect cultural tensions. During every significant cultural shift in America, pop culture and mass media outlets have been there to interpret it, commentate on it, and sometimes provoke it. Country music is no exception. A rhetorical analysis of popular contemporary country music shows that country artists are seeking expression on the topics of rural identity, cultural endangerment, and methods of cultural sustention. An exploration of the lyrical and musical elements of select songs, examined against scholarly studies of the protest and propaganda music of America's most significant sociopolitical climates, opens doors for a reevaluation of the boundaries of protest and propaganda. The findings in this study also call for a reconsideration of the sociopolitical composition of the country music genre and the mores of rural culture itself. The interplay between country artists, their audiences, and the medium and method of message delivery provides an opportunity for the delicate task of deciphering and purposing the various perceptions presented in rhetoric about rural culture.
Recommended Citation
Singleton, Natalee Denise, "Perceptions of rural America: a rhetorical analysis of protest elements in popular country music" (2012). All ETDs from UAB. 2984.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/2984
