Redneck Liberation : Country Music As Theology

by Fillingim, David

• ISBN13: 9780865548411
• ISBN10: 0865548412
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-08-01
• Publisher: Mercer Univ Pr

Summary

In this unique book, David Fillingim explores country music as a mode of theological expression. Following the lead of James Cone's classic, "The Spirituals and the Blues, Fillingim looks to country music for themes of theological liberation by and for the redneck community. The introduction sets forth the book's methodology and relates it to recent scholarship on country music. Chapter 1 contrasts country music with Southern gospel music--the sacred music of the redneck community--as responses to the question of theodicy, which a number of thinkers recognize as the central question of marginalized groups. The next chapter "The Gospel according to Hank," outlines the career of Hank Williams and follows that trajectory through the work of other artists whose work illustrates how the tradition negotiates Hank's legacy. "The Apocalypse according to Garth" considers the seismic shifts occuring during country music's popularity boom in the 1980s. Another chapter is dedicated to the women of country music, whose honky-tonky feminism parallels and intertwines with mai

Author Biography

David Fillingim is assistant professor of religion and philosophy at Shorter College.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Honky-Tonkology: Taking Country Music Seriously	1	(22)
The Gospel Songs and the Cheatin' Songs: Suffering and the Failure of Redneck Theology	23	(20)
The Gospel According to Hank: Country Music's Hillbilly Humanist Moral Core	43	(26)
The Apocalypse According to Garth: Riding toward the Postmodern Roundup	69	(32)
Stand by Your Man and Your Daughters Shall Prophesy: The Emergence of Honky-Tonk Feminism	101	(40)
Epilogue: All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Country Music	141	(16)
Bibliography	157	(6)
Index	163