Date of Award
Spring 5-2016
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.F.A.
Degree Program
Creative Writing
Department
English
Major Professor
Randy Banks
Second Advisor
Anne Boyd Rioux
Third Advisor
John Hazlett
Abstract
The People’s Poets of Texas: Literature Born Within the Singer/Songwriter Tradition of the Last Forty Years is a creative nonfiction exploration of the poetry found within the songs of multiple generations of modern Texas singer/songwriters and a case for the consideration of their work as a genuine regional literature. Studying the roots of Texas music, the musicality of Texan manners of speech and storytelling, and re-examining the Austin, Texas music scene of the 1970s that brought a national focus to the organic, reciprocal manner in which Texas music is traditionally experienced, radically altered the ways in which the songs were written, recorded, and marketed. An examination of this phenomenon allows us to understand that, first, a proliferation of Texas singer/songwriters of unprecedented quality has emerged in recent decades and that, second, a legitimate people's literature is emerging from their song-craft.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Dunham, Phyllis M., "The People's Poets: Literature Born of the Texas Singer-Songwriter Movement of the Last Forty Years" (2016). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 2212.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2212
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.