Bruce Springsteen, Cultural Studies, and the Runaway American Dream. ed. by Kenneth Womack et al. (review)

Abstract

Springsteen, Cultural Studies, and Runaway American Dream. Edited by Kenneth Womack, Jerry Zolten, and Mark Bernhard. (Ashgate Popular and Folk Music Series.) Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2012. [xviii, 275 p. ISBN 9781409404972. $89.95.] Illustrations, bibliography, index.David Harvey once summarized Karl Marx's groundbreaking methods by using an analogy of multiple windowsfrom which we can look in upon inner structure of capitalism. The view from any one window is flat and lacks perspective. When we move to another window we can see things that were formerly hidden from view. Armed with that knowledge, we can reinterpret and reconstitute our understanding of what we saw through first window, giving it greater depth and perspective. By moving from window to window and carefully recording what we see, we come closer and closer to understanding and all of its inherent contradictions. (David Harvey, The Limits to Capital [New York: Verso, 2006], 2.)Replace capitalism and capitalist society with Bruce and you've got a fitting encapsulation of this timely Ashgate release, Springsteen, Cultural Studies, and Runaway American Dream. Between its covers, fourteen diverse writers look in upon the Boss (as Springsteen is known) through a variety of scholarly lenses, such that by end of volume, reader has certainly come closer to understanding Springsteen and inherent contradictions of his career in popular music, which now spans more than three decades.The book's strength lies precisely in this diversity of vantage points. Divided into four parts, it tackles American identity, gender, religion, and ethics, while mixing Springsteen's lyrics with scholarly evidence to supports claims about how we understand and interpret such durable issues as Vietnam conflict, Old Testament stories, and promise of American automobile. Representing overlapping proclivities of cultural studies programs, authors array insights from diverse authorities including Martha Nussbaum, Hannah Arendt, Max Weber, and even Karl Marx. The reader who consumes entire interdisciplinary book stands to learn much about musician, his work, and how researchers from many corners of academy contribute to big tent of popluar music studies.As an example of interesting scholarship happening in popular music studies, collection begins with David N. Gell - man's Darkness on Edge of Town: Spring - steen, Richard Ford, and American Dream, an essay that constructs a dialog centered on class conflict and urban decay while demonstrating how both Springsteen and author Richard Ford have relied on imagery derived from western American landscapes and Independence Day ( July 4). This extensive survey of Springsteen's work stands in contradistinction to following article, Dead Man's Town: 'Born in USA,' Social History, and Working-Class Identity by Jefferson Cowie and Lauren Boehm, which focuses tightly on just one song (Born in USA) to speak, again, about class as well as American identity. This opening pair is exemplary of way in which these authors have created opportunities for productive cross-talk, both within and among book's four parts; many similar groupings could be constructed. Situated somewhere between this pair, in terms of amount of material surveyed, is Liza Zitelli's essay, 'Come to Door, Ma': Mothers, Women and Home in Springsteen's Devils and Dust, which examines a full album, capturing synchronically one of Spring steen's complete musical statements. The great diversity of scope among chapters is pleasing and stimulating.Some argumentative connections made here are more or less intuitive, as when Springsteen's lyrical style is compared to that of Woody Guthrie, an acknowledged influence. Others are further afield but equally interesting, as when Springsteen is set beside Walt Whitman, a recurring figure in this book. …